^iiW^riiiiiMyl 


E.CD^DlTJfffi 


^Kj>;.,iC>c:;^ai» 


iiillili^ii 

■■■■ 


llllll)lll|ll(lllllllMI|l 


piitiiiiitni'liiiii 


iy'Z-r/l^ 


IMMORTALITY, 


OUR  EMPLOYMENTS  HEREAFTER. 


WHAT  A  HUNDRED  SPIRITS,  GOOD  AND  EVIL, 
SAY  OF  THEIR  DWELLING  PLACES. 


J.   M.   PEEBLES,   M.D., 

AUTHOR  OF 

'Seers    of  the    Ages" — "Five  Journeys  Around   ihe  World" — "Immortality 

Our  Future  Homes" — "Demonism  of  the  Ages  and  Spirit  Obsessions" — 

"The  Christ  Question  Settled" — "Death  Defeated" — "Pathway 

of  the  Human  Spirit" — "Vaccination  a  Curse" — "Who 

are    These    Spiritualists?" — "Spirit-Mates" — 

"Angels  of  the  Ages" — Etc.,  Etc. 


The  belief  in  a  world  of  apirils,  and  of  the  intercourse  with  men  — 
the«e  beinK  the  cardinal  truths  of  Spiritualism  —  is  the  only  belief  that 
has  always  and  everywhere  prevailed. 

De.  Euqenb  Cbowell. 

Am  I  to  live  on  after  my  t>ody  is  dead  7  Then  it  concerns  me  to 
know  where.    What  answer  comes  to  me  from  the  land  beyond  ? 

M.  A.  (OXOM.) 


FIFTEENTH  EDITION 


PEEBLES  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

519  Fayette  St. 
LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA,  U.  S.  A. 
WHOLESALE:  BATTLE  CREEK.  MICH. 


EDUC. 

PSYCH. 

LIBRARY 


Copyright,  1907 
By  J  as.  M.  Peebles,  M.  D. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


PAOB 

PREFACE    5 

INTRODUCTION 7 

CHAPTER 

I.    THE  MYSTERIES  OF  LIFE 11 

Universality  of  Life. —God  and  Atheism. —  No  real  Conflict 
between  Science  and  Religion.  — Grandeur  of  the  Soul.  —  Pre- 
existence  of  the  Soul.  —  Matter  only  the  Shell  of  Things.  —  Will 
the  Attrihute  of  Force.  —  Query  of  a  Materialist.  —  We  are  the 
Dead  ;  our  Departed  the  Living! 

II.    DOUBTS  AND   HOPES 20 

Comparative  Silence  of  the  Old  Testament  regarding  a  Future 
Life.  —  The  Cheerful  Hope  of  Pagan  Philosophers.  —The  Light 
Tfhich  Jesus  brought.  —  Mortal  Life  is  only  preparative  for  a 
better. 

in.    THE  BRIDGING   OF  THE   RIVER 24 

Life  and  Death  two  Musical  Ripples.  — Vegetable  and  Animal 
Processes  represent  two  Segments  in  the  Circle  of  Movement. — 
Three  Methods  of  aspecting  the  Phenomena  of  Existence.  — 
How  the  Ancients  pictured  Death. 

IV.    FOREGLEAMS   OF  THE   FUTURE % 

The  Hope  of  Immortality  indestructible. —  "Poppies  of  the 
Age  of  Plato."  — The  Ether  Realm.  —  Earth  Life  a  primary 
School.  — Wordsworth's  "  Little  Maid." 

V.    TESTIMONY  OF  SAINTS 36 

Mental  Lucidity  of  the  Dying.  —  Testimony  of  William 
Himter.  —  Montaigne.  —  Isaac  T.  Hopper.  —  Phenomena  attend- 
ing Death.  —  The  Poet  Keats.  —  Schiller.  —Rev.  J.  W.  Bailey. 
—  A  Quaker  Lady.  —  Rev.  S.  J.  May.  —  Louis  XVI.  —  Mozart. 
Other  Testimonies. 

TI.    THE    GROWTH  AND  PERFECTION  OF  THE    SPIRITUAL 

BODY 48 

What  materializing  Phenomena  foreshadow.  —  Spirit-Body 
not  a  new  Creation.  —  Sustenance  of  the  Spiritual  Body. — 
Spiritual  Body  an  approximate  Image  of  the  physical.  —  Reality 
of  Spirit  Life. 


^15813 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAO« 

VII.  IS  IT  THE  SOUL  OR  THE  BODY  THAT  SINS?  ....  63 
Evil  is  not  "Undeveloped  Good."  —  Character  and  Reputa- 
tion. —  The  Hells  crowded  with  respectable  Hypocrites.  —  Moral 
Qualities  inhere  in  ISIoral  Beings.  —  The  Nature  that  commits 
Sin  survives  Deatli.—  This  "World  a  Battle-Ground.  —  Daily  Acts 
construct  the  Mirror  before  which  we  must  stand. 

VIII.     CLOTHING   IN  THE  SPIRIT  WORLD 60 

Angel  at  the  Sepulchre.  —  Raiment  of  Moses  and  Elias. — 
White  Robes  of  the  Saints.  —  First  Garments  worn  by  Spirits 
are  Gifts.  —  They  change  in  Color  according  to  the  Spirit's 
Growth.  —  Swedenborg's  Testimony. 

IX.    LOCOMOTION  IN  THE  SPIRIT  WORLD 64 

Miss  Fancher.  —  Personal  Experience.  —  Dr.  E.  C.  Dunn 
leaver  his  Body. —Testimony  of  a  Seer.  —  Velocity  of  Spirit 
Locomotion.  —  Dr.  Pierce  of  Boston  visits  the  Spirit  World. 

X.    OUR  LITTLE  ONES   IN  HEAVEN 80 

Earth  is  the  Seminary  of  Heaven.  —  Parting  Messages  to  their 
Parents.  —  Heaven  opened.  — "Kittie  is  gone!"— Death  as 
seen  from  the  Mount  of  Spiritualism. 

XI.    THE  PERSONAL  EXPERIENCE  OF  AARON  KNIGHT     .      8T 
His  Transition.  —  His  sad  Experience  in  the  Hells.  —  Prayer 
for  Deliverance.  —  Is  visited  by  an  Angel  of  Light.  —  Is  given 
Work  to  do. —Peace  purchased  by  unselfish  Labors  for  the 
Good  of  Others.  —  Answers  to  various  Questions. 

XII.    THE  RED  MAN'S  TESTIMONY 101 

Powhattan's  Spirit  Home.  —  Little  Indian  Girl's  quaint 
Description  of  her  Home.  —  Coacoochee's  Experience.  —  Mate- 
rialization of  Indian  Spirits. 

XIII.  EVIL    SPIRITS.  -  THEIR    DOINGS    AND     THEIR    DES- 

TINIES 109 

Swedenborg's  Description  of  the  Hells.  —  Moral  Character 
not  changed  by  Death.  —  William  Howitt  on  Unhappy  Spirits. 
—  John  Jacob  Astor's  Lament.  — Mr.  Stewart's  Exploration  of 
the  Hells.  —  Horror's  Camp !  —  The  Hells  mitigated. 

XIV.  THE  TESTIMONY  OF  PHYSICIANS  IN  SPIRIT  LIFE    .    121 

Dr.  Jeachris's  Experience  in  Spirit  Life.  —  Answers  to 
Important  Questions.  —  Questions  answered  through  Mr.  Col- 
ville.  —  Testimony  of  George  Rush.  —  A  Talk  with  William 
Gordon.— He  explains  many  Important  Things  through  Dr. 
Samuel  Maxwell.  —  An  English  Physician's  Account  of  his 
Spirit  Home. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  rAOB 

XV.    THE  HOMES  OF  APOSTLES  AND  DIVINES 143 

The  Homes  of  the  Apostle  John.  — Rev.  Thomas  Scott's 
Confession.  — A  Swedenborgian  in  the  City  of  Arcadia. —  A 
Methodist  Minister's  Life  in  the  Spheres. 

XVI.    THE  FRIENDS  AND  SHAKERS  IN   SPIRIT  LIFE     .    .    159 
Experience    of    a  Quaker  Spirit.  —  Clairvojant  Visions    of 
Elmira  P.  Allard.  a  Shaker  Sister.  —  The  Spirit  Conncil. — 
Excursion  on  Lake  Pleasant.  —  Visions  of  Eunice  Bathrick,  a 
Shaker  El  dress. 

XVII.  THE  SPIRIT  HOME  OF  BRUNO  AND  OTHERS  ...  170 
The  Martyr's  Home.  —  A  Voice  from  South  Africa.  —  The 
Future  of  Africa.  —  Spirit  Home  of  Edgar  Athcling.  —  John 
Stewarts  Home  in  Spirit  Life.  —  Excursions  in  the  Spheres.  — 
Description  of  Fountain-of-Light  City.  —  A  Hindoo  Mystic's 
Experiences  in  the  Heavens. 

XVIII.    MANY  VOICES  FROM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND 184 

A  Sailor's  sad  Story.  —  A  Strolling  Player.  —  Questions  and 
Answers.  —  Experience  of  Little  Eliza.  —  Mrs.  Colonel  Taylor's 
Experience.  —  John  Knowles'  Spirit  Home.  —  Spirit  Home  of 
John  Glover.  —  Dr.  C.  H.  Barrows.  —  A  Spirit  through  the 
Mediumship  of  Mrs.  Watson  of  Memphis.  —  Home  of  Mungo 
Park. 

XIX.    CRYSTAL  DROPS.  -  FACTS  AND  FANCIES  OF  MANY 

IN  SPIRIT  LIFE 238 

Gems  from  the  Poets  and  Philosophers.  —  Sorrow  disciplines 
the  Soul.  —  "We  possess  only  what  we  grow  to  in  Spirit  Life.  — 
Relative  Power  of  higher  and  lower  Spirits.  —  Intellectual 
Acquisitions  alone  do  not  bring  Happiness. —  We  must  labor 
to  make  Others  happy,  if  we  Ourselves  would  be  happy.  —  The 
Propriety  of  Prayer.  —  Laying  aside  the  Mask.  —  The  Condi- 
tion of  Paupers  from  the  large  Cities  in  Spirit  Life. — The 
Dying  never  Weep. 

XX.    THE  TWO  THEORIES  CONCERNING  THE  BEGINNING 

OF  THINGS.  — MATTER  AND  SPIRIT 262 

The  Western  Mind  inductive,  while  the  Oriental  Mind  is 
synthetic.  — The  Materialist  reasons  from  a  nebulous  Chaos.  — 
The  Spiritualist  reasons  from  God  as  the  Primal  Cause.  —  The 
Scientists  are  mostly  arrayed  on  one  Side,  while  the  Poets  and 
Philosophers  are  arrayed  on  the  Other.  —  Distinction  between 
Personality  and  Individuality.  —  Pre-existence. — Arguments 
Pro  and  Con. 

XXI,    A  SEANCE  IN  JERUSALEM  WITH  THE  APOSTLES  .    27 

What  Jesus  and  Paul  and  John  said.  —  Primitive  Christianity 
and  the  first  Christian  Churches. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXII.    SEANCES  WITH  THE  GREAT  SCOTCH  MEDIUM,  DAVID 

DUGUID 291 

What  the  Holland  Artist  Spirits,  and  Hafed  the  Ancient 
Persian  teach  through  him.  —  What  Jesus  was  doing  from  the 
Age  of  twelve  to  thirty  when  He  appeared  as  a  public  Teacher. 
—  What  Position  He  now  occupies  in  the  Heavenly  World. 

XXIII.    THE  GENERAL  TEACHINGS   OF  SPIRITS 301 

The  General  Teachings  of  Spirits. —  M.  A.  (Oxon.).— The 
Opinion.s  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Beecher.  —  The  Unity  of  Genuine 
Spiritualism  with  the  Christianity  of  the  New  Testament. — 
"Only  remembered  for  what  I  have  done." 

XXIV.     SPIRIT  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  APOSTLE  JOHN        317 

A  Superior  Clairvoyant. — The  Aura  around  books. — Commun- 
ication from  Spirit  Hosea  Ballou — Spirit  Message  from  the  Apostle 
John. 


PREFACE. 


GiTE  ns  details  —  details  and  accurate  delineations  of  life  in  th« 
Spirit  "World!  —  is  the  constant  appeal  of  thoughtful  minds. 
Death  is  approaching.  Whither  —  oh,  whither!  Shall  I  know 
my  friends  be3-ond  the  tomb  ?  Will  they  know  me  ?  What  is  their 
present  condition,  and  what  their  occupations? 

Too  long,  perhaps,  have  we  listened  to  generalities  and  vague 
Imaginations  touching  that  so-called  shadowy  reaim  of  existence 
whither  we  are  hastening. 

When  a  traveler  starts  out  for  some  distant  country,  it  is  not 
enough  for  him  to  know  that  he  must  cross  some  stormj'  ocean,  but 
he  asks,  "  What  is  the  distance  to  those  foreign  countries?  What 
is  the  character  of  the  climate  ?  What  modes  of  living  distinguish 
the  inhabitants,  and  what  preparation  will  I  need  to  make  for 
comfort  and  success  in  that  far-away  country  ?  "  If  this  be  true  of 
the  earthly  traveler,  how  much  more  important  are  inquiries  and  a 
right  understanding  relative  to  the  journey  across  the  River  of 
Death ;  the  conditions  and  modes  of  life  in  the  World  of  Spirits  ? 
These  are  pressing  questions !  And  as  travelers  return  to  tell  us 
of  the  countries  they  have  visited,  so  spirits  return  from  different 
spheres  and  golden  zones,  describing  their  homes  and  their  employ- 
ments. 

In  this  volume  the  Spirits,  differing  as  they  may,  are  allowed  to 
speak  for  themselves.  Though  sometimes  condensing  and  modify- 
ing their  language,  I  have  carefully  preserved  the  essential  ideas 

5 


0  PBEFACB. 

embodied  in  their  messages.    And  in  the  last  chapter  I  have  given 

a  resumS  of  their  teachings  without  the  mention  of  the  names  of 

the  controlling  intelligences. 

I  send  this  volume  forth  with  my  prayers  and  best  wishes,  hoping 

it  may  answer  the  soul  questions  of  many  earnest  inquirers,  and 

inspire  to  an  active  faith  in  the  glorious  realities  of  our  Heavenlj 

Home,  and  to  earnest  labors  for  the  npboilding  of  the  Spiritual 

Einffdom  on  earth. 

J.  IL  P. 


INTRODUCTION. 


We  stand  to-day  on  the  border  land  between  two  eternities  — 
one  past  and  full  of  treasured  histories  and  multiplied  experiences ; 
the  other,  future,  teeming  with  possibilities  which  await  us,  and 
fraught  with  destinies  whose  moral  grandeur  we  desire  to  fathom. 
Souls,  allied  to  God,  are  eternal.  We  embrace  in  our  present 
memory  and  knowledge  but  a  fragment  of  life's  past  careers.  The 
future,  too,  is  a  page  we  have  scarcely  opened.  Its  prophecies  are 
golden.  As  the  past  yields  up  its  vast  treasures,  the  future  becomes 
more  easily  interpreted.  Events  flow  in  an  orderly  succession. 
The  accumulations  of  past  time  j-ield  their  wealth  to  the  uncounted 
years.  The  cycles  of  growth  repeat  themselves  for  ever  upon  higher 
planes  of  expression.  The  soul  is  ever  a  questioner.  From  its 
earliest  recorded  experiences  it  has  interrogated  itself  and  the  sur- 
rounding universe  for  a  solution  of  the  mystery  of  its  being  and 
the  momentous  changes  that  necessarily  await  it. 

The  earliest  literature  of  any  people  is  sacred  literature.  The 
most  exhaustive  inquiries  of  the  greatest  minds  of  every  age  and 
nation  have  been  inquiries  pertaining  to  man's  moral  relations  and 
the  soul's  future  destin}'.  The  religious  literature  of  the  race 
approaches  nearest  the  character  of  immortality  of  all  its  mental 
products.  "When  other  books  are  forgotten,  the  sacred  books  con- 
tinue a  perennial  fountain  of  thought  and  inspiration.  This  is  true 
of  Egypt,  India,  Babylon,  and  all  the  countries  of  the  Orient.     The 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION. 

ethics  and  religious  teachings  of  Gautama  Buddha  exert  a  pro 
founder  influence  over  five  hundred  millions  of  the  eftrth's  inhabi- 
tants than  all  the  other  literature  in  the  East,  save  the  moral  teach- 
ings of  Confucius. 

The  l5'ric  songs  of  the  prophets  of  Israel  exert  a  sweeter  influ- 
ence on  the  hearts  of  struggling  and  sorrowing  millions  than  do  the 
epics  of  Homer  or  Virgil.  And  what  name  imparts  to  us  so  much 
of  obedience  to  the  divine  law,  of  devotion  to  principle,  of  love 
and  sweetness  and  mercy,  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ?  What  charac- 
ter among  the  pure  and  great  equals  his  as  a  moral  magnet  to  draw 
the  world  toward  the  good  and  beautiful,  and  to  inspire  the  mil- 
lions with  hope  and  childlike  trust  ?  The  victories  of  the  primitive 
Christians,  inspired  b^'^  Jesus  Christ,  were  the  victories  of  peace 
and  love.  Before  Constantine's  day  the  Christian  religion  was  a 
lamb ;  afterward  it  became  an  aggressive  lion.  Now  it  is  a  tomb, 
comparatively  cold  and  voiceless  ! 

When  we  consider  that  it  is  as  natural  for  men  to  think,  to  rea- 
son, as  to  breathe,  how  reasonable,  then,  these  ever-recurring 
inquiries :  Whence  did  man  originate  ?  What  is  he  in  his  essential 
being?  And  what  is  to  be  his  future  and  final  destiny?  To  go 
deeper,  and  get,  if  possible,  to  the  foundation.  What  is  matter? 
What  is  the  nature  of  that  spirit  substance  which  constitutes  the 
spiritual  body?  And  what  is  the  soul,  that  potentialized  portion  of 
the  infinite  Over-Soul,  that  thinks,  wills,  reasons,  and  aspu-es  after 
unmortality  ? 

".  •  .  .  Nor  yet  to  all 
These  prophecies  and  hints  are  given ; 
Only  as  signab,  sparsely  set, 
Along  the  battlements  of  Heaven. 

Yet  some  day,  every  waiting  soul 
Shall  see  the  mists  slow  rolling  back. 
And,  freed  from  clogs  of  earth  and  sin, 
Walk  calmly  up  the  shining  track ! " 

Are  the  planetary  worlds  that  stud  the  firmament  inhabited  ?  and 


INTEODUCTION.  f 

if  80,  are  they  morally  related  to  us,  and  do  they  psychologically 
affect  us  ?  What  shall  we  be  in  the  far-distant  seons  ?  Upon  what 
shall  we  subsist,  and  what  shall  be  our  employments  during  the 
measureless  years  of  eternity  ? 

If  the  moon  is  already  dead,  as  Proctor  teaches  —  if  planets  and 
satellites  have  their  births  and  deaths,  are  there  not  then  funeral  pro- 
cessions among  the  stars?  All  change,  negatively  considered,  is 
death.  The  Seer  sees  in  every  pulse-beat  change  and  waste  — 
hears  in  every  tremulous  step  the  measured  march  of  death. 
Every  tick  of  the  clock  tells  of  the  sufferings  and  stragglings  of 
departed  souls ! 

The  seemingly  dead  tree  of  winter  buds  and  blossoms  in  the 
spring-time.  The  Egyptian  wheat,  retaining  the  ^^talizing  life 
principle,  lived  and  waved  again  though  buried  in  darkness  for 
thousands  of  years.  But  will  the  thinking  soul  live  ?  —  live  indi- 
vidualized —  live  to  know  and  be  known  —  live  in  immortal  fresh- 
ness and  beauty  after  the  body  dies  and  is  laid  quietly  away  in  the 
graye? 


IMMORTALITY. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE  MYSTERIES  OF  LIFE. 

"  I  do  not  doabt  bat  the  inajestj  and  beauty  of  the  world  are  latent  in  any  iota  of  tli* 

world ; 
I  do  not  doubt  that  exteriors  have  their  interiors  —  and  that  the  eyesight  has  another 

eyesight,  and  the  hearing  another  hearing,  and  the  voice  another  voice ;  . 
Did  yon  think  Life  was  so  weU  provided  for  —  and  Death,  the  purport  of  all  Life,  ia 

not  well  provided  for  ? "  Whitman. 

Life  in  some  of  its  manifestations  is  everywhere.  In  polar 
glaciers,  in  tropic  sands,  and  in  the  profoundest  ocean  depths, 
the  life-principle  is  expressed  in  organic  forms.  The  vitality 
of  seeds  belonging  to  the  pre-glacial  period  has  been  clearly 
demonstrated. 

The  raspberry  seed  is  very  tenacious  of  life.  Three  rasp- 
berry plants  were  raised  from  seeds  found  in  the  stomach  of  a 
man  whose  skeleton  form  had  been  discovered  thirty  feet  be- 
low the  surface  of  the  earth,  at  the  bottom  of  a  burial-mound, 
opened  near  Dorchester,  England.  With  this  body  had  been 
buried  some  coins  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  from  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Lindley  and  Professor  Win- 
chell,  of  the  Michigan  University,  we  are  justified  in  assuming 
that  these  seeds  had  retained  their  vitality  some  1,700  years; 
and  if  so,  why  not,  under  similar  conditions,  17,000  years,  or 
even  a  much  longer  period  ? 

11 


12  IMMORTALITY. 

It  is  stated  by  Lord  Lindsay  tliat  in  the  course  of  his  wan- 
derings amid  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  he  was  permitted  to 
assist  in  unrolling  a  mummy,  the  emhalmers  of  which  evi- 
dently understood  the  uses  of  ozone.  The  hieroglyphical 
writings  upon  the  sarcophagus  containing  this  embalmed  form 
showed  it  to  be  about  3,000  years  old.  Examining  the  mum- 
mied body  after  it  was  unwrapped,  there  was  found  in  one  of 
the  closed  hands  a  bulb,  which,  when  planted  in  a  suitable 
situation,  grew  and  bloomed  out  iuto  a  beautiful  dahlia-like 
flower. 

None  can  reasonably  doubt  that  there  is  growing  in  England 
at  this  present  time  wheat,  the  grains  of  which  were  obtained 
from  the  foldings  in  the  wrappings  of  an  Egyptian  mummy, 
there  deposited  more  than  4,000  years  since.  Professor  Agas- 
siz  fully  credited  this  account ;  while  Dr.  Carpenter,  the  dis- 
tinguished English  physiologist,  gives  it  full  indorsement  by 
saying,  "  there  is  really  no  limit  to  the  latent  vitality  of  seeds." 

Each  individual,  by  virtue  of  cerebral  organization,  conceives 
and  studies  the  universe  from  his  own  moral  plane  of  thought. 
To  Hans  Christian  Andersen  the  world  was  so  aflame  with 
love,  and  the  moral  universe  so  aglow  with  the  symbols  of 
Divine  life  and  wisdom,  that  he  saw  good  in,  and  immortality 
/or,  everything.  Aware  that  seeds  hidden  from  the  sunshine 
for  long  periods  break  away  from  their  cell-life,  and  put  forth 
the  tender  blade,  —  aware  that  the  insect  and  the  house-fly 
outside  of  sheltering  walls,  becoming  first  dull,  then  seem- 
ingly dead,  revive  when  warmed  by  the  summer's  sun, — 
aware  that  the  dormouse  lives  with  sealed  mouth  several 
months  of  the  year ;  that  the  live  toad  found  in  the  center  of 
a  block  of  stone,  and  exhibited  in  the  London  Crystal  Palace, 
must  have  existed  there  for  centuries,  and  that  the  corn  which 
had  quietly  slept  in  the  tombs  of  Egypt  for  4,000  years  could 
be  made  to  grow,  —  aware,  as  was  the  poet  Andersen  of  all 
these  marvelous  phenomena  in  nature,  he  thus  breathed  his 
thoughts  under  the  heading  —  "  The  Miracle." 


THE  MYSTERIES   OF   LIFE.  13 


"THE  MIRACLE. 

'  From  a  pyramid  in  the* desert's  san«'. 
A  mummy  was  brought  to  Denmark'^  land  — 
The  hieroglyphic  inscription  told 
That  the  body  embalmed  wa3  three  thousand  years  i 
It  was  the  corpse  of  a  mighty  queen ;  — 
Examining  it,  they  found  between 
Her  closed  fingers  a  corn  of  wheat; 
So  well  preserved  was  this  little  seed. 
That,  being  sown,  it  put  forth  its  blade. 
Its  delicate  stem  of  a  light-green  shade, 
The  ear  got  filled  with  ripenir  g  com. 
Full-grown  through  sunshine  and  light  of  the  i 


"  That  wonderful  power  in  a  corn  so  small  — 
It  is  a  lesson  to  each  and  all. 
Three  thousand  years  did  not  quench  its  germ  — 
It  teaches  our  faith  to  be  strong  and  firm, 
When  out  of  that  husk  a  new  plant  could  be  bom 
To  ripen  in  sunshine  and  dew  fiom  the  sky, 
Then,  human  soul,  thou  spark  from  on  high. 
Thou  art  immortal  as  thy  great  Sire 
Whose  praise  is  sung  by  the  angel-choir  I 
The  husk,  the  body  is  buried  deep, 
And  friends  will  go  to  the  tomb  and  weep ; 
But  thou  shalt  move  on,  on  wings  so  free  — 
For  thine  is  the  life  of  eternity. 
That  wonderful  power  of  so  small  a  seed  — 
The  miracle  seen  in  that  com  of  wheat. 
It  puzzles  the  mind ;  but  still  it  is  done 
By  the  Author  of  Life,  the  Eternal  One." 

It  is  an  open  question  whether  atheism  be  possible.  When 
Proclus  pronounced  that  great  word,  Causation ;  when  Plato 
wrote  of  the  Divine  Logos ;  when  Tyndall  dilates  on  the  Po- 
tency in  nature,  Spencer  upon  the  Unknowable,  Zimmermann 
upon  Intelligent  Force,  and  Emerson  upon  the  Absolute 
Over-Soul,  they  mean  God  —  that  Divine  Presence  upon 
whose  pulsing,  loving  bosom  is  the  soul's  rest  for  ever.  Why 
then  so  much  useless,  and  often  bitter,  disputation  when  words 
at  most  are  but  the  shadowy  symbols  of  ideas? 

It  would  seem  to  me  like  a  paltry  idling  away  of  time  to 
prove  that,  as  a  mortal  being,  I  had  an  earthly  father.  Quite 
possibly  I  could  not  prove  it.  The  evidence  would  be  utterly 
beyond  my  reach.    Still,  I  conscientiously  believe  it.     And 


14  IMMORTALITT. 

80,  by  parity  of  reasoning,  do  I  just  as  conscientiously  believe 
that  my  spiritual  nature  had  a  Heavenly  Father. 

The  existence  of  space  is  no  more  a  matter  of  necessity  to 
my  understanding  than  the  existence  of  God.  Thinking  from 
the  conscious  Ego  —  the  I  am  of  Myself — I  require  no 
subtile  trains  of  logic  to  demonstrate,  to  know  that  God 
is,  and  that  God  governs  this  orderiy  universe  by  immutable 
law. 

Primal  truths  are  axiomatic.  It  is  a  want  of  intuition  and 
moral  perception  that  necessitates  so  many  processes  of  rea- 
soning. 

Full  of  trust,  I  consciously  see  God,  the  Divine  Energy^ 
everywhere,  —  pulsating  in  the  growing  corn,  purpling  in  the 
vineyard,  blushing  in  the  peach,  smiling  in  the  sunshine,  and 
awing  us  as  we  gaze  into  infinite  depths  filled  with  stars,  cir- 
cling suns,  and  systems  of  universes. 

There  is  no  conflict  between  science  and  religion,  since 
they  present  two  aspects  of  the  same  cosmos :  one  treating  of 
the  quality  of  being,  the  other  treating  of  its  quantitative 
distribution.  The  real  conflict  is  between  science  and  secta- 
rian theology ;  and  the  chasm  deepens.  The  mere  scientist, 
ever  cold  and  semi-blind,  sees  but  half  the  universe  —  the 
material  side  —  the  shell.  With  this  he  experiments.  And 
the  little  knowledge  he  thus  obtains  rests,  after  all,  upon  faith, 
— faith  in  his  five  senses,  and  faith  in  the  precision  of  his 
investigations. 

Can  the  telescope  penetrate  infinity?  Can  the  physicist 
explain  the  mechanism  by  which  the  heliotrope  turns  to  the 
sun,  or  the  marvelous  chemistry  by  which  the  turbot  assumes 
the  color  of  the  ground  over  which  it  swims?  Can  the  mi- 
croscope detect  grief  in  the  brain,  or  the  stethoscope  sound 
the  depths  of  human  aspirations  ?  Did  the  scalpel  ever  dis- 
cover a  thought  in  the  convolutions  of  the  cranial  cavity? 
Can  love  be  measured  with  a  rod,  or  hope  weighed  in  a  pair 
of  scales  ?  The  soul  and  all  its  mental  operations  —  the  soul 
and  all  the  spiritual  forces  connected  therewith  —  are  utterly 
beyond  the  scope  of  the  physical  sciences. 


THE  MTSTEBIES  OF  LIFE.  15 

All  organic  life  begins  in  a  simple  cell.  Every  organized 
structure  is  but  an  aggregation  of  these  cells ;  and  not  only 
the  specific  form  which  the  aggregate  assumes,  but  the  dis- 
tinctive character  of  each  component  cell  depends  upon  a 
Boul-germ  or  pre-existing  type  which  embodies  the  genius  or 
idea  of  which  the  material  structure  is,  plus  the  influences  of 
the  environment,  the  expression. 

"  A  single  elementary  atom,"  says  that  prince  of  modern 
philosophers.  Professor  Balfour  Stewart,  "  is  a  truly  immor- 
tal being,  and  enjoys  the  privilege  of  remaining  unaltered  by 
the  powerful  blows  that  can  be  dealt  against  it." 

No  solid  thinker  believes  in  the  destructibility  of  either 
matter  or  spirit.  The  conservation  of  spiritual  energies  is  as 
true  as  the  demonstrated  conservation  of  forces. 

The  soul  being  a  living  force,  is  necessarily  immortal.  It  is 
the  visible  and  phenomenal  forms  and  qualities  only  that 
change.  The  celestial  angels  ever  see  these  elementary  at- 
oms,—  these  conscious  monads  that  exist  in  the  golden  splen- 
dor of  their  underived  immortality.  Infilled  with  pure  spirit, 
—  aflame  with  the  divine  life,  —  these  monads,  these  "  firsts" 
of  things,  vibrate,  rotate,  repel,  unite,  form  organic  relations, 
and,  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  universal  order,  take  on  an 
ultimate  expression  by  becoming  incarnated  in  a  material 
form. 

Consciousness  is  coeval  and  coordinate  with  life.  What  we 
commonly  consider  our  soul  is  not,  logically  speaking,  ours ; 
but  we  are  its.  The  soul  —  a  potentialized  and  individual- 
ized portion  of  the  Over-Soul,  God — is  the  man.  Life  is  the 
aromal  garment  of  the  spirit,  and  its  most  immediate  vehicle 
of  expression.  The  spiritual  is  the  real,  the  permanent,  and 
each  mortal  is  in  the  spirit  world  now,  though  veiled  from  its 
surpassing  glories  by  the  material  organism.  The  Divine  Or- 
der prescribes  the  descent  of  the  soul  into  a  mortal  body,  and 
by  that  descent  the  spiritual  perceptions  become  temporarily 
dimmed ;  they  are  folded  away,  as  it  were,  in  a  casket,  and 
Ue  in  a  state  of  partial  inaction  during  the  night-season  of 


16  IMMORTALITT. 

earthly  unfoldment,  preparatory  to  the  splendors  of  a  ne^ 
cycle  of  wakefulness  and  unobscured  lucidity. 

Absence  of  consciousness  is  no  proof  of  non-existence,  inas« 
much  as  sleep  and  wakefulness  are  alternating  states  of  the 
thinking  man ;  and  these  states  sliould  not  be  confounded 
with  the  subject  to  which  they  relate.  The  individual  who 
becomes  blind  from  a  cataract  upon  the  eye  is  still  in  the  same 
world.  Traveling,  even  into  foreign  countries,  does  not  help 
him  to  the  light;  but  remove  the  film,  and  he  readily  per- 
ceives that  the  light  is  all  around  him.  The  spiritual  senses 
are  so  eclipsed,  so  bleared  with  the  material,  that  we  do  not 
see  the  spiritual  world  that  bathes  and  enfolds  us  like  a  CTy&- 
tal  ocean. 

Electricity,  light,  magnetism,  interstellar  ether,  —  these  are 
only  the  etherealized  envelopes  and  elastic  vehicles  of  spiritual 
forces.  Certain  conditions  develop  or  bring  into  outward  ex- 
pression their  potentialities.  And  laivs,  so  called,  are  the 
deific  methods,  the  defined  order  in  which  the  Divine  Pres- 
ence operates.  Essential  Spirit  alone  interpermeates  and 
constitutes  the  qualities  of  all  things.  There  are  no  abstract 
qualities,  —  that  is  to  say,  qualities  abstracted  from  their  sub- 
stances. They  inhere  in  them.  Strength  is  not  outside  of 
the  being  that  exercises  it.  Acid  properties  do  not  exist 
apart  from  the  substances  containing  them.  So  love,  good- 
ness, truth,  are  not  abstract  powers,  but  necessary  attributes 
that  inhere  in  the  very  constitution  of  every  sentient  being, 
whether  man  or  angel.  Accordingly,  men  and  women  are 
spirits  now.  They  live  and  walk  in  the  spirit  world,  though 
encased  in  mortal  clothing  ;  their  sensations,  qualities,  and 
all  their  higher  emotions,  are  also  spiritual,  yet  veiled  for  the 
present  under  the  vestured  disguise  of  matter. 

It  will  be  admitted  that  extension,  divisibility,  and  inertia 
are  among  the  principal  attributes  of  matter.  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  matter  at  most  is  only  the  unreal,  shadowy  shell  of  things 
—  the  passive  or  statical  condition  for  the  action  of  force.  It 
serves  as  the  limiting  wall  for  the  utilization  of  spiritual 
energies.     It  is  the  backgnund  upon  which  the  panorama  of 


THE  MYSTERIES   OF   LIFE.  17 

creation  is  projected.  It  is  the  agent  of  reaction,  as  the  coun- 
terpoise to  action,  without  which  equilibrium  and  the  perpe- 
tuity of  movement  would  be  impossible. 

The  theory  that  force  is  an  attribute  of  matter  is  disproved 
by  the  fact  of  inertia.  It  cannot  change  its  state.  It  will 
ultimately  be  shown,  I  believe,  that  inertia  is  the  sole  attri- 
bute of  matter,  while  the  other  properties  usually  ascribed 
to  it  are  simply  secondary  qualities  which  inertia  involves. 
Force,  therefore,  is  the  antithesis  of  matter,  not  simply  one 
of  its  attributes.  Will  is  the  single  attribute  of  force,  and 
will  is  self-determining,  —  not  motion,  but  the  antecedent  of 
motion,  and  the  antithesis  of  inertia. 

"  All  that  we  can  affirm  of  matter,"  says  the  learned  Clerk 
Maxwell,  ''  is  that  it  is  the  recipient  of  impulse  and  of  en- 
ergy." And  yet  materialists,  and  doubtless  the  majority  of 
ordinary  men,  have  come  to  think  from  their  long  familiarity 
with  matter  that  physical  forms  constitute  the  only  real,  that 
matter  is  more  permanent  and  substantial  than  spirit.  This  is 
a  fatal  mistake.  Few  will  dispute  that  the  concrete  forms  of 
matter,  when  reduced  to  the  last  analysis,  are  little  more  than 
a  filmy  appearance,  an  illusion  that  dazzles  to  blind. 

Take  a  bit  of  the  hardest  granite  rock.  "  How  solid,  how 
firm  and  substantial,"  you  say.  Let  us  see.  I  pass  it  into 
the  hands  of  the  chemist.  He  applies  to  it  a  most  intense 
heat,  and  it  becomes  a  fiery  liquid ;  increasing  the  heat,  it 
becomes  a  fleecy,  limpid  fluid;  augmenting  it  still,  it  is  trans- 
formed into  a  gaseous  mist  lighter  than  air ;  continue  to  inten- 
sify the  heat,  and  it  utterly  vanishes  from  sight.  There,  O 
mistaken  materialist,  is  your  matter,  your  hard  granite  rock, 
composed  of  mica,  feldspar,  and  quartz,  driven  to  a  liquid  — 
to  a  fluid  —  to  gaseous  mist — driven  from  sight  —  vanished 
—  gone  I  And  so  with  everything  that  the  hand  can  touch, 
the  physical  eye  see,  the  senses  cognize. 

Analysis  resolves  the  seen  into  the  unseen,  and  the  dulled 
senses  pale  away  before  our  deeper  spiritual  nature  which  re- 
cognizes the  invisible  and  enduring  reality. 

"  What  do  you  know  of  angels  and  spirits,  or  even  of  spirit, 
2 


t8  IIVIMORTALITY. 

per  8gf"  said  a  very  self-contained  Secularist  to  me  in  Eng- 
land. 

As  much,  sir,  in  all  probability,  as  you  know  about  matter, 
was  my  reply ;  and  especially  when  matter,  through  analysis, 
is  transformed  into  a  state  of  invisibility. 

*'  But  matter  and  material  things  may  be  seen,  handled, 
felt,  and  actually  tested  by  the  senses." 

And  so  may  spirits,  when,  by  the  law  of  materialization, 
they  desire  to  demonstrate  a  future  existence. 

"  I've  never  seen  anything  of  the  kind." 

That  is  quite  probable.  And  then,  possibly,  you  have  not 
seen  the  Brahmans  in  their  burning-ghauts ;  the  Parsees  in 
their  temples ;  the  Pope  in  St.  Peter's ;  nor  me,  with  whom 
you  converse.     It  is  only  the  body  you  see. 

"  But  I  fancy  (taking  hold  of  my  arm^  that  I  feel  and  see 
your 

Nothing  —  nothing  of  the  kind,  sir.  You  only  feel  and  see 
the  shell,  the  vesture,  the  traveling-dress,  in  which  I,  the 
man,  am  at  present  attired.  "  Never  do  I  tire,"  said  Socrates, 
"  of  telling  the  wise  man  that  the  body  is  not  the  man." 

"  Very  well ;  you  must  know  that  our  knowledge  depends 
upon  our  senses.  And,  as  a  man  professing  some  knowledge 
of  science,  I  accept  the  reality  of  nothing  that  I  cannot  de- 
monstrate, —  I  believe  nothing  that  I  cannot  see,  hear,  taste, 
weigh,  or  is  in  some  manner  made  to  appeal  to  my  physical 
senses.     And  further,  sir,  I  think,  or,  rather,  I  have  an  idea." 

Stop  —  stop  right  there  !  You  say  you  have  an  idea.  De- 
nying it  for  the  moment,  I  propose  to  test  you  by  your  own 
method.  You  say  you  think  —  say  that  you  have  an  idea. 
But  I  deny  it  in  toto,  and  call  upon  you  to  prove  it,  —  to 
demonstrate  it  by  an  appeal  to  any  one,  or  all  of  my  five 
natural  senses.  Bring  out  that  "  idea  "  of  yours,  and  let  me 
see  it  —  let  me  hear  it  —  taste  it  —  feel  it  —  or  let  me  weigh 
it  in  a  pair  of  scales  1  What  is  the  color  ?  what  the  shape  ? 
and  what  the  density  of  that  idea  of  yours?  .  .  . 

This  system  of  reasoning,  on  the  part  of  materialists,  fails 
to  convince  the  intellect  or  meet  the  noblest  aspirations  of  the 


THE  MYSTEKIES   OF  LTFB.  19 

human  soul.  Thinkers  ought  to  understand,  so  it  gesms  to 
me,  that  all  laws,  principles,  aspirations,  thoughts,  ideas,  and 
unseen  forces  are,  while  imponderable  and  invisible,  allied  to 
the  spiritual  realm  of  existence,  the  realm  of  the  real,  the  per- 
petual, the  permanent,  and  the  immortal ! 

Mortal  life  is  only  an  incident  —  a  tremulous  eddy  in  the 
cycling  stream  of  time.  We  are  the  dead;  human  bodies  are 
little  more  than  graves.  The  departed,  the  invisible,  are  the 
truly  living.  The  apostle  of  old  denominated  the  body  the 
"  temple  of  God ; "  while  an  ancient  prophet,  writing  under 
the  divine  afflatus,  termed  the  soul  "  the  candle  of  the  Lord." 
This  candle,  this  luminous  spark  of  divinity,  incarnated  in 
the  templed  organism,  manifests  itself  through  the  cranial 
organs,  and  shines  out  through  the  features.  It  takes  cogni- 
rance  of  earthly  things,  gathers  rich  experiences,  builds  up  and 
perfects  the  spiritual  body,  and,  awaiting  deliverance,  is  finally 
translated  in  the  resurrection  chariot  to  the  world  of  spirits, 
the  homes  of  the  angels,  the  many-mansioned  house  of  the 
Father. 

"  Among  them  cherub  shapes  of  childhood  glide ; 
Maidens  are  there  with  waving  locks  of  gold; 
And  manhood  in  its  glory  and  its  pride, 
And  age  no  longer  old ! 

And  he,  the  last  that  left  us,  whose  young  life  — 

By  laughing,  promise-laden  breezes  driven  — 
Disdained  to  meet  the  rude  world's  noisy  strife. 

And  sought  the  calm  of  Ileaven,  — 

Fm  sure  I  see  him  in  his  radiant  rest, 

Among  his  angel  kindred  up  on  high, 
And  honored  as  befits  the  latest  guest 

They  welcome  to  the  sky. 

Oars  is  the  darkness ;  theirs  the  boundless  day ;  — 
They  drink  true  life ;  we  draw  the  labored  breath  { — 

They  have  eternal  sunshine  on  their  way ; 
We  have  the  gloom  of  death. 

Yet,  nearing  the  cold  nver,  I  rejoice 

That  when  I  pass  its  dai-kness  tind  its  row, 
All  these  will  welcome  me  with  heart  and  rmoB 

Upon  the  further  shore." 


5J0  *  lAlMOETAUTT. 


CHAPTER   II. 

DOUBTS   AND  HOPES. 

"  And  they  said  among  themselves,  Who  shall  roll  us  the  stone  away  from  the  doci 
of  the  sepulchre  ?  "  Mark  xvi.  8. 

"Yes,  who?  There  it  lies — hard,  cold,  inexorable;  the  stone  of  silence  —  tho 
stone  of  utter,  hopeless  separation.  Since  the  bcfjinninjr  of  the  world  there  it  has 
been ;  uo  teui-s  have  melted  it ;  no  prayers  pierced  it.  The  children  of  men,  surging 
and  complainitig  in  their  anguish  of  bereavement,  have  dashed  against  it,  only  to  melt 
hopelessly  t)ackward  as  a  wave  falls  and  goes  back  into  the  ocean.  Nothing  about  the 
doom  of  death  is  so  dreadful  as  this  dead  inflexible  silence.  Could  there  be,  after  the 
passage  of  the  river,  one  backward  signal — one  last  word,  the  heart  would  be 
appeased."  Mbs.  H.  B.  Stowtb. 

"  I  GO  down  to  the  grave  with  my  son  mourning,"  were  the 
sorrowing  words  of  a  weeping  patriarch,  when  bowed  down 
with  grief  and  broken  in  spirit.  Dim  and  flickering  in  that 
distant  period  was  the  light  of  Judaism,  and  almost  hope- 
less the  despair  of  the  Old  Testament  I  "  The  Jewish  reli- 
gion," says  Dean  Stanley,  "was  characterized  to  a  consider- 
able extent  by  the  dimness  of  its  conceptions  relating  to  a 
future  life."  Bishop  Warburton  admits  that  the  ancient 
Israelites  "  had  no  well-defined  faith  in  the  immortality  of 
the  soul."  Other  distinguished  scholars  have  been  candid 
enough  to  confess  that  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  give  but  little 
encouragement  to  the  hope  of  a  future  state  of  existence. 
Their  rewards  and  their  threatened  punishments  were  tem- 
poral. The  tenor  of  the  Israelitish  promises  was,  "If  ye 
are  obedient,  if  ye  keep  my  statutes,  ye  shall  eat  of  the  good 
of  the  land." 

The  following  testimonies  conclusively  prove  that  the  Jews 
had  very  little  knowledge  of  a  future  life  : 


DOUBTS   AND   HOPES.  21 

1.  Dr.  Campbell  observes : 

"  It  is  plain  that,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  most  profound  silence  is  observed  in 
regard  to  the  state  of  the  deceased,  their  joys  or  sorrows,  happiness  or  misery." 

2.  Dr.  Jahn  says  : 

"  We  have  not  authority  decidedly  to  say,  that  any  other  motives  were  held  out  to 
the  ancient  Hebrews  to  pursue  the  good  and  to  avoid  the  evil,  than  thore  which  were 
derived  from  the  rewards  and  punishments  o/this  lipb." 

3.  Professor  Mayer  writes : 

*«  But  it  is  evident  to  the  careful  reader,  that,  both  in  the  Book  of  Job  and  in  the 
Pentateuch,  the  divine  judgment  which  is  spoken  ofiT,  is  altcays  a  judgment  which 
takes  place  in  this  life  ;  and  the  rewards  which  arc  promised  to  the  righteous,  and  the 
punishments  that  are  threatened  to  the  wicked,  are  such  only  as  are  rewarded  in  the 
present  ttate  of  being.  .  .  .  The  idea  that  God  is  the  Judge  of  tlic  world  pervades 
them  [the  writings  of  Moses]  eversrwhere ;  but  it  has  always  relation  to  this  earthly 
existence." 

It  is  very  evident  that  while  the  great  body  of  the  Hebrews 
doubted,  trembled,  wept  over  the  prospects  of  a  future 
immortality,  the  Sadducees  boldly  declared  that  there  was 
"  neither  angel  nor  spirit."  Hear  the  wail,  the  sad  refrain  of 
those  early  biblical  writers  ! 

"The  dead  praise  not  the  Lord,  neither  any  that  go  down  into  silence." 

Psalms  cxv.  17. 

"Man  being  in  honor  abideth  not ;  he  is  like  the  beasts  that  perish." 

Psalms  xlix.  12. 

"  For  the  living  know  that  they  shall  die ;  but  the  dead  know  not  anything,  neither 
have  they  any  more  a  reward,  for  the  memory  of  them  is  forgotten."  —  EccL.  i\.  5, 10, 

"  For  thei-e  is  hope  of  a  tree,  if  it  be  cut  down,  that  it  will  sprout  again,  and  that  the 
tender  branch  thereof  will  not  cease.  Though  the  root  thereof  wax  old  in  the  earth, 
and  the  stock  thereof  die  in  the  ground ;  yet  through  the  scent  of  water  it  will  bud, 
and  bring  forth  boughs  like  a  plant.  But  man  dicth,  and  wastcth  away :  yea,  man 
giveth  up  the  ghost,  and  where  is  he  ?  As  the  watcra  fail  from  the  sea,  and  the  Hood 
decayeth  and  drieth  up :  so  man  licth  down  and  riseth  not :  till  the  heavens  be  no 
more,  they  ahall  not  awake,  nor  be  raised  out  of  their  sleep."  Job  xlv.  7-12. 

"  His  breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth;  in  that  very  day  his  thoughts 
perish."  Psalms  cxlvi.  4. 

'•They  are  dead,  they  shall  not  live;  they  are  deceased,  they  shall  not  rise." 

Isaiah. 

"  They  shall  be  as  though  they  had  not  been."  —  Obadiah. 

"  Wherefore  I  perceive  that  there  is  nothing  better  than  that  a  man  should  rejoice 
in  his  own  works,  for  that  is  his  portion ;  for  who  shall  biing  him  to  see  what  shall  be 
after  him  ? "  Eccleslastes. 

"  As  the  cloud  is  consumed  and  vanishes  away,  so  he  that  goeth  down  to  tin 
grave  shall  come  up  no  more."  JOB. 


22  ooiOBTALrnr. 

"  I  have  said  to  corruption,  Thou  art  mj  fitther ;  to  the  worm,  Thou  art  my  mother, 
•aid  my  sister.  And  where  is  now  my  hope  ?  As  for  my  hope,  who  shaU  see  it  ? " — Job. 
"  They  sleep  with  their  fathers."  —  MosES. 

"  For  that  which  befalleth  the  sons  of  men  befalleth  beasts ;  even  one  thing  be- 
alleth  them  :  as  the  one  dieth  so  dieth  the  other ;  yea,  they  have  all  one  breath ;  so 
hat  a  man  hath  no  pre-eminence  above  a  beast.  .  All  go  into  one  place ;  all  are  of 
he  dust,  and  all  turn  to  dust  again,  ^\^^o  knoweth  the  spirit  of  man  that  goeth  up- 
<rard,  and  the  spirit  of  the  beast  that  goeth  downward  to  the  earth."  —  Ecclbsiabtes. 

Compare  these  chilling,  forbidding,  silence-in-the-tomb  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  with  Roman  resignation  and  Grecian  con- 
fidence in  a  sublime  immortality  —  in  a  home  among  the  gods 

•*  When,  therefore,  death  approaches  a  man,  the  mortal  part  of  him,  as  it  appears., 
dies,  but  the  immortal  part  departs,  safe  and  uncormptcd,  having  withdrawn  itself 
from  death."  Plato. 

"  As  they  who  run  a  race  are  not  crowned  till  they  have  conquered,  so  good  men 
believe  that  the  reward  of  virtue  is  not  given  till  after  death.  .  .  .  Not  by  lamenta- 
tions and  mournful  chants  ought  we  to  celebrate  the  funerals  of  the  good,  but  by 
hymns ;  for  in  ceasing  to  be  numbered  with  mortals,  they  enter  upon  the  heritage  of 
a  diviner  life."  PLtJTAKcn. 

*'  If  my  body  be  overpressed,  it  must  descend  to  the  destined  place ;  nevertheless  my 
soul  shall  not  descend,  but,  being  a  thing  immortal,  shall  fly  up  to  high  heaven." 

IIebaclitus. 

"  The  soul  is  most  certainly  immortal  and  imperishable,  and  our  souls  really  exist 
in  the  world  of  spirits.  Those  who  shall  have  sufficiently  purified  themselves  by  phi- 
losophy [religion],  shall  live  hereafter  in  more  beautiful  mansions.  .  .  .  For  the  sake 
of  these  things,  we  should  use  every  endeavor  to  acquire  virtue  and  wisdom  in  this 
life ;  for  the  reward  is  noble  and  the  hope  is  great.  A  man  ought  then  to  have  confi- 
dence about  his  soul,  if  during  this  life  he  has  made  it  beautiful  with  temperance,  jus- 
tice, fortitude,  freedom,  and  truth ;  he  waits  for  his  entrance  into  the  world  of  spirits 
as  one  who  is  ready  to  depart  when  destiny  calls.  I  shall  not  remain,  I  shall  depart. 
Do  not  say  then  that  Socrates  is  buried;  say  that  you  bury  my  body." —  Socrates. 

«'  This,"  said  Plato,  "  was  the  end  of  the  best,  the  wisest,  and  most  just  of  men,  — 
•  story  which  good  men  never  read  without  tears." 

•'  The  origin  of  souls  cannot  be  found  upon  earth,  for  there  is  nothing  earthly  in 
them.  They  have  faculties  which  claim  to  be  called  divine,  and  which  can  never  be 
•hown  to  have  come  to  man  from  any  source  but  God.  That  nature  in  ns  which 
thinks,  which  knows,  which  lives,  is  celestial,  and  for  that  reason  necessarily  eternal. 
God  himself  can  be  represented  only  as  a  free  Spirit  separate  from  matter,  seeing  all 
things,  and  moving  all  things,  himself  ceaselessly  working.  Of  this  kind,  from  this 
nature,  is  the  human  soul.  ...  It  cannot  be  destroyed."  He  represents  the  aged  Cato 
as  exclaiming,  "  O  happy  day  when  I  shall  remove  from  this  crowd  of  mortals,  to  go 
and  join  the  divine  assembly  of  great  souls.  Not  only  shall  I  meet  again  there  tlie 
men  who  have  lived  Godlike  on  earth ;  I  shall  find  again  my  son,  to  whom  t\cse  aged 
hands  have  performed  the  duties  which  in  the  order  of  nature  he  should  have  rendered 
to  me.  His  spirit  has  never  quitted  me.  He  departed,  turning  his  eyes  upon  me  and 
calling  on  me,  for  that  place  where  he  knew  I  should  soon  come.  If  I  have  borne  his 
loss  with  courage,  it  is  not  that  my  heart  was  unfeeling,  but  I  consoled  myself  with 
the  thought  that  our  separation  would  not  be  long."  Cicebo. 


DOUBTS   AND    HOPES.  23 

It  was  not  to  the  realization  of  Brahman  and  Buddhist,  to 
sturdy  Roman  and  cultured  Greek,  that  Jesus  —  as  Paul 
taught  —  brought  to  light  "life  and  immortality."  They  had 
long  walked  in  the  shimmering  shadows  of  this  light.  But 
Jesus  brought  it  to  light  to  those  more  sensuous  Jews  who 
''sat  in  the  shadow  of  death;"  brought  it  to  light  through 
phenomenal  marvels  and  the  practical  exemplification  of  a 
most  divine  and  spiritual  life. 

Illumined  by  the  Christ-Spirit,  highly  inspirational,  fellow- 
shiped  by  angels,  and  standing  upon  the  very  pinnacle  of 
that  Hebrew  Spiritualism  which  was  foreshadowed  by  the 
prophets,  Jesus  conversed  upon  the  mountain  with  Moses  and 
Elias,  each  long  in  spirit-life.  Aflame  with  divine  truth,  he 
had  at  his  command  a  legion  of  angel- ;  and  after  his  cruci- 
fixion he  appeared,  identified  himself,  and  walked  about  in 
his  spirito-materialized  body  for  forty  days  I 

These  spiritual  wonders  brought  to  light  "  life  and  immor- 
tality ;  "  that  is,  the  light  and  knowledge  of  a  future  exist- 
ence to  all  those  who  witnessed  his  superhuman  works.  And 
oh,  how  glorious  this  light  to  the  sad,  the  sick,  and  the  dying  I 
Belief  in  a  future  state  is  natural,  and  the  Jews,  previous  tc 
Jesus'  time,  were  not  wholly  without  that  light  "that  lighteth 
every  man  that  cometh  into  the  world." 

This  mortal  life,  as  compared  with  eternity,  is  but  momen- 
tary—  a  brief  series  of  changes  —  a  lengthened  dying.  And 
is  it  not,  after  all,  just  as  natural  to  die ;  and  should  it  not 
be  just  as  pleasant  as  to  lay  off  the  old  garment  when  it 
becomes  soiled  and  faded  from  wearing  ?  The  body  at  best 
is  little  more  than  a  tattered  raiment,  and  the  evening  of  life 
ought  to  deepen  on  towards  the  inviting  grave  as  quietly, 
serenely,  as  dusk  fades  and  shades  off  into  the  darkness  that 
precedes  and  prophesies  of  sunrise. 

"  We  are  not  sad  to  see  the  gatheied  grain, 

Nor  when  their  mellowed  fruits  the  orchards  cast, 

Nor  when  the  yellow  woods  shake  down  the  npene  I  maat.; 

We  sigh  not  when  the  sun,  his  course  fulfilled, 

Sinks  where  his  islands  of  refreshments  lie." 


24  IMMORTALJTV 


CHAPTER  III. 

DEATH   AND  THE  BRIDGING   OF  THE  BIVEE. 

"  Blessed  is  he,  blessed  are  all  men  to  whom  the  living  wise  God  should  gi  ant  thoM 
two  everlasting  powers,  purity  and  immortality."  JIazda,  in  tue  Avesta. 

"  At  the  last,  tenderly, 
From  the  walls  of  the  powerful  foitress'd  house, 

From  the  clasp  of  the  knitted  locks  —from  the  keep  of  the  well-closed  doors, 
Let  me  be  wafteil. 

Let  me  glide  noiselessly  forth ; 

With  the  key  of  softness  unlock  the  locks  —  with  a  whisper. 

Set  ope  the  doors,  O  Soul !  "  Whitbiaw. 

Out  of  nothing  nothing  comes,  is  the  common  rendering  of 
ex  nihilo  nihil  fit;  and  there  cannot  be  a  plainer  axiom.  But 
if  nothing  cannot  evolve  or  produce  something  the  equiva- 
lent of  substance,  then  the  converse  is  equally  true,  that 
something  cannot  produce  or  become  nothing.  But  man  ia 
something,  and  more  —  a  conscious,  thinking,  rational  being, 
yearning  for  a  future  life,  and  therefore  immortal.  Logic, 
then,  is  on  the  side  of  immortality. 

"  Beings,"  says  Schiller,  "  live  only  in  their  becoming. 
"  Nature  is  spirit  visible.  Spirit  is  invisible  nature  ;  and  liv- 
ing is  spirit  becoming  manifest  as  nature." 

Nature  often  moves  by  seemingly  inverse  methods.  The 
decay  of  the  dead  leaf  proves  that  there  is  a  life-force  within 
it.  ]\Ien  die  as  they  grow,  by  degrees.  Each  white  hair  of 
the  aged  is  a  dead  hair.  Brain-cells  are  consumed  in  the 
process  of  thought.  Each  muscular  or  mental  act  is  coinci- 
dent with  disorganizing  dying  cells  ;  and  dying  cells  prophesy 
of  the  becoming,  of  the  living  form,  the  conscious  act.  But 
from  whence  the  brain-cell?  It  is  fashioned  from  proto- 
plasm by  that  mysterious  principle  called  life,  which  domi- 


DEATH   AND  THE  BRIDGLNG    OF    THE  RIVER.  25 

nates  the  organism.  Marvelous,  indeed,  are  these  methods 
of  nature.  Vegetable  and  animal  processes  are  each  essential 
to  complete  the  cycle  of  living  forces.  Vegetable  growth  is  a 
process  whereby  inorganic  matter  is  made  living.  The  ani- 
mal structure  builds  its  tissues  from  this  prepared  material, 
and  in  its  voluntary  activities  consumes  it  again  —  causes  it 
to  die  —  and  so  returns  it  to  the  inorganic  world.  So  the 
processes  of  thought  involve  the  continual  waste  and  death 
of  the  material  vehicle.  But  the  spiritual  nature  is  supplied 
from  another,  a  diviner  fountain. 

When  counter-forces  and  outside  influences,  through  a  su- 
perior potency,  overcome  these  internal  attractive  forces  that 
strive  to  maintain  intact  a  given  form,  said  form  changes,  de- 
composes, and  dies  into  higher  manifestations  of  life,  fulfilling 
in  all  probability  some  better  purpose  in  the  economy  of  ex- 
istence. 

The  acorn  during  the  dreary  chilliness  of  autumn  time  dies 
off  from  the  parent  stem,  —  dies,  falls  to  the  earth,  and  is 
buried  ;  but  uuder  the  warming  suns  of  spring,  the  swelling 
germ,  the  tender  sapling,  the  towering  oak,  reveal  the  leafy 
life,  the  higher  aim. 

Nature  is  a  conservative  prophet.  The  frowning  storm 
preludes  the  calm,  and  darkness  the  morning  sunshine.  Res- 
urrections are  all  around  us.  And  death  is  but  a  John-the- 
Baptist,  crying  of  the  coming  Christ  of  immortalit3\ 

Form,  life,  consciousness,  these  are  the  triune  steps  under 
the  overshadowing  Consciousness  of  that  presence  which  a 
German  philosopher  denominated  the  Absolute,  and  which 
Paul  pronounced  "  all  and  in  all" 

It  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  state  the  different  standpoints 
from  which  we  occasionally  view  the  subjects  under  considera- 
tion. There  are,  then,  three  methods  of  aspecting  the  prin- 
ciples and  phenomena  of  existence. 

First,  we  may  view  things  in  their  natural  order,  or  accord- 
ing to  the  method  of  evolution,  which  implies  a  procedure  from 
the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  the  low  to  the  higher ;  sec- 
ondly, the  logical  order,  in  which  mind,  idea,  spirit,  life,  and 


26  IMMORTALITY. 

function  take  precedence  of  organization  ;  thirdly,  the  celestial 
order,  which  is  the  method  of  involution^  or  procedure  from 
inmost  to  outermost,  from  the  spiritual  to  the  physical,  from 
the  perfect  to  the  imperfect,  and  from  organization  to  proto- 
plasm. Hence  when  speaking  from  the  celestial  standpoint, 
we  speak  as  though  perfected  forms  are  antecedent  to  all  else  ; 
and  when  speaking  from  the  naturalistic  standpoint,  or  view- 
ing things  in  their  natural  order,  as  they  appear  to  immediate 
observation,  then  we  present  them  by  a  reverse  method. 

Generally  considered,  visible  forms,  beginning  in  the  min- 
eral, and  advancing  into  the  vegetable,  perfect  themselves  in 
the  animal. 

Organic  life,  with  voluntary  motion,  begins  in  the  vegetable, 
advances  into  the  animal,  and  perfects  itself  in  the  human. 

Intelligent  consciousness,  as  an  expression  of  mind  and  rea- 
son, begins  in  the  animal,  advances  into  the  human,  and  per- 
fects itself  in  the  spiritual.  Unlike  insects  and  animals,  men 
are  conscious  of  their  consciousness ;  while  exalted  spirits  in 
the  heavens  are  conscious  not  only  of  the  earthly  life  they 
lived,  but  of  their  pre-existent  states  of  being. 

The  ancient  Assyrians  pictured  death  under  the  form  of  an 
angel  tall  and  majestic.  The  Hebrews  adopted  the  symbol, 
calling  this  angel  Sammael.  Grave  in  appearance,  and  full 
of  eyes,  he  carried  a  naked  sword  from  which  fell  three  drops, 
one  paling  the  countenance,  one  destroying  the  vitality,  and 
the  other  forcing  physical  decay.  Drinking  from  the  cup  he 
bore  in  his  right  hand  was  termed  "  tasting  the  bitterness  of 
death." 

The  more  cold  and  sensuous  of  the  ancient  Romans  repre- 
Bcnted  death  as  a  winged  lad  with  sad  dejected  countenance, 
bearing  an  inverted  torch,  and  a  poor,  torn  disfigured  butterfly 
lying  at  his  feet. 

The  elder  theologians,  speaking  and  painting  pen-pictures 
of  death  as  the  "  kiug  of  terrors,"  and  as  that  bourne  from 
whence  no  traveler  returns,  often  describe  it  as  a  grim,  rat- 
tling skeleton  with  a  scythe  over  its  shoulder,  madly  travers- 


DEATH    AND   THE   BRmGING   OF   THE  BIVER.  27 

ing  the  earth  to  mow  down  its  teeming  millions  ana   »  "sign 
them  to  judgment. 

It  is  still  occasionally  described  as  a  "  fowler  spreading  his 
net,"  and  as  a  ghostly  knight  riding  upon  a  "  pale  horse." 
And  here  are  a  few  specimens  of  the  long-ago  hymns  sung  at 
funerals. 

The  mighty  flood  that  rolls 

Its  torrents  to  the  main, 
Can  ne'er  recall  its  waters  lost 

From  that  abyss  again. 

And  man,  when  in  the  grave, 

Can  never  quit  its  gloom 
Until  the  eternal  morn  shall  wake 

The  slumber  of  the  tomb. 

The  living  know  that  they  must  die, 
But  all  the  dead  foiirotten  lie ; 
Their  memory  and  their  sense  are  gone. 
Alike  unknowing  and  unknown. 


Princess,  this  clay  must  be  your  hed 
In  spite  of  all  your  towers ; 

The  tall,  the  wise,  the  reverend  head. 
Must  lie  as  low  as  ours. 

EUu-k  from  the  tombs  a  doleful  sound. 

Mine  ears  attend  the  cry  ; 
Ye  living  men  come  view  the  ground 

Where  you  must  shortly  lie. 


5>uch  cheerless  withering  words,  with  the  black  drapery 
displayed  upon  funeral  occasions,  all  increase  rather  than  di- 
vest death  of  its  gloom  and  chilliness.  The  Chinese  mourn 
in  white.  Egyptians  in  Ptolemy's  time,  and  the  emotional 
Greeks  of  two  thousand  years  ago,  had  truer  and  clearer  con- 
ceptions of  death  and  the  future  life  than  have  many  plodding 
sectarians  in  this  nineteenth  century. 

"  Thou  art  not  dead,"  said  the  Grecian  poet  Prot^  when 
standing  over  the  corpse  of  his  friend ;  but  "thou  hast  removed 
to  a  better  place,  to  dwell  in  the  Islands  of  the  Blest  among 
abundant  banquets.  There  thou  art  delighted,  tripping  along 
the  Elysian  fields  among  soft  flowers,  and  free  too  from  every 
ill  of  the  mortal  life." 


28  IMMORTALITY. 

In  the  divine  light  of  present  inspirations  and  spiritual 
revelations  there  is  no  death,  —  only  incarnations,  changes, 
and  ceaseless  successions  of  births. 

"  On  the  cold  check  of  death  smiles  and  roses  are  blending, 
And  beauty  immortal  awakes  from  the  tomb." 

The  poet  Shelley  tells  of  a  Paradise-garden  in  which  all 
sweetest  flowers  and  all  rare  blossoms  grew  in  perfect  prime. 
This  garden  was  tended  by  a  wonderful  spiritual  lady,  and  all 
the  flowers  knew  her  and  rejoiced  in  the  influence  that  spread 
from  her ;  their  sweetness  passed  into  her,  and  hers  was 
reflected  in  their  bloom  and  fragrance.  Suddenly  she  died, 
says  the  poet,  and  soon  the  garden  and  flowers  came  to  per- 
ceive that  she  had  passed  away,  and  began  to  droop  and 
die  too ;  roses  and  lilies  withered  away,  the  bright,  sweet- 
scented  Indian  plants  fell  rotting  in  the  mud,  and  the  garden, 
once  so  fair,  slowly  changed  into  a  foul,  leafless  wreck,  or 
seemed  to  have  done  so,  for  as  Shelley,  with  strange  spiritual 
intuition,  hints,  that  decay  and  death  haply  were  "  like  all  the 
rest  a  mockery." 

"  What  garden  sweet,  that  lady  fair, 
And  all  sweet  shapes  and  odors  there, 
In  truth  have  never  passed  away, 
'Tisioe,  'tis  ours,  are  changed  f  not  they." 

Seen  in  the  light  of  the  spiritual  pliilosophy,  and  studied 
from  the  Mount  of  Vision,  death  is  but  a  hyphen  connecting 
the  two  worlds  —  is  but  a  renunciation  of  the  physical  body 
—  is  but  a  flower-wreatlied  arch  under  which  mortals  march 
on  one  by  one  to  the  shining  shores  of  immortality ;  or  it  may 
be  compared  to  the  rosebud  that  climbs  up  the  shaded  garden- 
wall  to  bloom  on  the  sunward  side. 

There  is  no  death !    The  stars  go  down 

To  rise  upon  some  fairer  shore, 
And  bright  in  Heaven's  jewelled  crown 

They  shine  for  evermore. 

There  is  no  death !    The  leaves  may  fall ; 

The  flowers  may  fade,  and  pass  away,  — 
They  only  wait  through  wintry  honrs 

The  coming  of  the  May. 


DEATH  AND  THE  BRIDGING  OF  THE  RIVER.  29 

There  is  no  death!     An  angel  form 

AValks  o're  the  earth  with  silent  tread; 
He  bears  our  dear  loved  ones  away, 

And  then  we  call  them — dead. 

He  leaves  om-  hearts  all  desolate — 

lie  plucks  our  fairest,  sweetest  flowers; 
Transplanted  into  bliss,  they  now 

Adorn  immortal  bowers. 


But  ever  near  us.  though  unseen. 
The  dear  immortal  spirits  tread; 

For  all  the  boundless  universe 
Is  life, — there  are  no  Dead! 


80  IMMOBTALITT. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

FORE-GLEAMS   OF   THE  FUTURE. 

*'  My  whole  uata-e  rushes  onward  with  irresistible  force  toward  a  future  and  a  bet 
ter  state  of  being.  Shall  I  eat  and  drink  only  that  I  may  hunger  and  thirst,  and  eal 
and  drink  agaia  till  the  grave  which  yawns  beneath  me  shall  swallow  me  up  ?  Shall  I 
beget  other  beings  in  my  own  likeness  that  they,  too,  may  eat,  drink,  and  die,  and 
leave  others  behind  to  follow  their  example  ?  To  what  purpose  this  perpetually  revolv- 
ing circle —  this  everlastiniT  repetition  in  which  things  are  produced  only  to  perish, 
and  perish  only  to  be  again  produced  —  this  monster  continually  swallowing  up  itself? 
Never  can  this  be  uiy  destiny,  or  that  of  the  world.  Something  that  is  to  endure  must 
be  brought  forth  in  all  these  changes  of  the  trausitoi-y  and  the  perishable  —  something 
which  may  be  carried  forward  safe  and  inviolate  on  the  waves  of  time."       FiCHTB. 

Take  it  to  yourself;  think  of  the  last  year,  the  last  day,  the 
last  hour,  the  last  moment,  the  last  thought,  and  that  thought 
annihilation  I  Oh,  how  the  soul,  mighty  in  her  conscious  gran- 
deur, shrinks  back  from  such  a  worse  than  meaningless  destiny ! 

Forgetting  God  for  the  moment,  I  have  to  say  of  nature, 
if  she  has  given  us  ideals  never  to  be  attained,  and  aspirations 
never  to  be  realized,  then  let  her  be  despised  and  hated ;  for 
nature,  however  potent,  has  no  moral  right  to  create  in  us 
deep,  divine  wants  to  live  immortal,  and  then  mock  them  — 
blast  them  with  a  resurrectionless  death  ! 

No  one  making  pretensions  to  philosophical  reasoning,  talks 
nowadays  of  annihilation,  of  the  transformation  of  substance 
into  nothing,  of  the  destruction  of  force,  or  of  conscious  life 
ultimating  in  death  unconscious  and  eternal !  The  universe 
can  know  no  loss.  "  No  motion  impressed  by  natural  causes, 
or  by  human  agency,  is  ever  obliterated.  The  ripple  of  the 
ocean's  surface,  caused  by  a  gentle  breeze,  or  the  still  water 
which  marks  the  more  immediate  track  of  a  ponderous  vessel 
gliding  with  scarcely  expanded  sails  over  its  bosom,  are  equally 
indelible." 


F0EB-GLBA3I8   OF  THE  FUTURE.  81 

The  most  ingenious  chemist,  with  crucible  and  compound 
blowpipe,  has  not  been  able  to  annihilate  the  minutest  atom 
of  matter.  What  then  of  the  Ego,  the  I  am,  that  thinks, 
wills,  reasons,  and  aspires  after  the  blissful  glories  of  immor- 
tality? 

"  In  the  silver  mines  of  Laurium,"  so  says  a  late  English 
journal,  "among  the  refuse  ore  left  by  the  ancient  Greeks 
2,000  years  ago,  the  seed  of  a  species  of  glacium  or  poppy 
was  found,  which  has  slept  in  the  darkness  of  the  earth  dur- 
ing all  that  time.  After  a  little  while,  when  the  slags  were 
brought  up  and  worked  off  at  the  smelting  ovens,  there  sud- 
denly arose  a  crop  of  glacium  plants,  with  a  beautiful  yellow 
flower,  of  a  kind  unknown  in  modern  botany,  but  described 
by  Plato  and  others." 

Poppies  of  the  a<je  of  Plato, 

With  your  sunny  f^rolJcn  flowers, 
From  two  thousand  years  of  slumber 

Welcome  to  this  world  of  oun. 

Steadfast  through  the  passing  agea, 

Safe  beneath  the  sands  of  Time, 
Changeless  while  all  else  was  changing, 

Ye  had  slept  a  sleep  sulilime. 

Till  the  sun  in  royal  splendor, 

Breaking  on  your  silent  bliss. 
Like  the  prince  in  faiiy  fable, 

Gently  roused  you  with  a  kiss  — 

Boused  you  to  what  wondrous  changes  t 

Panting  engines  toil  around, 
Unknown  blossoms  gleam  beside  you. 

Unknown  races  till  the  ground. 

Is  your  heritage  of  wisdom 
;  Fashioned  for  an  earlier  day, 

Unless  midst  our  new  conditions, 
Fitting  things  long  passed  away  } 

Plato's  was  an  age  of  beauty, 

Great  in  song  and  great  in  art ; 
Say,  could  Man  achieve  such  trioaipb 

Had  not  Nature  borne  her  part  ? 

Tell  us,  poppies,  is  it  higher 

Now  than  in  that  joyous  time 
When  the  giant  poets  chanted. 

And  the  world  was  in  its  prime  } 


82  IMMORTALITY. 

Essential  spirit  interpenetrates  all  substances,  and  is  the  life 
of  all  forms.  Bacon  is  credited  with  saying  that  the  kernels 
of  nuts  shrank  and  decayed  after  their  spirits  had  left  them. 
The  fact,  if  it  be  such,  is  worthy  of  thought  There  is  cer- 
tainly a  soul-life  in  every  thing,  l^et  the  child  carefully  place 
some  seeds  in  a  dark  drawer,  and  when  seventy  years  have 
benumbed  his  limbs,  and  silvered  his  hairs,  if  he  plant  them 
they  will  spring  into  vigorous  life,  and  blossoming  bear  pre- 
cious fruitage. 

It  is  related  by  M.  Jouanet,  that  in  the  year  1635  several 
Celtic  tombs  were  discovered  near  Begorac.  Under  the  head 
of  each  of  the  dead  bodies  there  was  found  a  small,  square 
stone  or  brick,  with  an  aperture  in  each,  containing  a  few 
aeeds,  which  had  been  placed  there  beside  the  dead  by  the 
friends  who  had  buried  them  perhaps  1500  or  1700  years  be. 
fore.  These  seeds  were  carefully  sowed  by  those  who  found 
them.  What  was  seen  to  spring  from  the  dust  of  the  dead? 
Beautiful  sun-flowers  and  clover-bearing  blossoms  as  bright 
and  sweet  as  those  which  are  woven  into  wreaths  by  the  merry 
children  now  playing  in  our  fields. 

"An  acorn  split  into  halves,"  says  a  modern  writer,  "and 
then  examined  with  a  powerful  microscope,  will  reveal  to  the 
sight  the  would-have-been  oak  in  miniature."  The  idea,  the 
undeveloped  spirit-tree,  is  there.  "  The  permanence  of  spirit," 
says  this  same  author,  "  may  be  further  illustrated  by  the  fact 
that,  if  you  burn  a  rose,  mingle  the  ashes  with  water,  and  lay 
them  avray  into  a  quiet  place,  a  scum  will  gradually  gather 
upon  tho  surface,  and  arrange  itself  into  the  form  of  the  orig- 
inal flower."  If  this  be  true,  it  shows  the  persistence  and 
potency  of  the  spirit-form.  The  connecting  link  between 
spirit  and  matter,  so  far  as  scientists  have  been  able  to  push 
their  researches  beyond  mere  physical  appearances,  has  been 
denominated  ether.  Professor  Tyndall,  in  treating  of  it,  terms 
it  "  an  all-pervading  substance,  more  solid  than  gas,  yet  in- 
finitely more  attenuated  and  elastic."  This  ether-world,  un- 
seen to  all  save  seers,  is  peopled  with  our  departed  loved 
ones. 


FORE-GLEAMS   OF   THE  FUTURE.  8? 

"  It  lies  around  ua  like  a  cloud, 
A  world  we  do  not  see ; 
Yet  the  swett  closing  of  an  eye 
May  biing  us  there  to  be." 

It  is  beautiful  to  die.     Tombs  are  symbols,  telling  that  men 
have  risen  therefrom  to  the  higher  life. 

The  little  jar  is  well  enough  to  start  the  rose-slip  in  ;  but  it 
must  be  transplanted  into  the  garden  to  reach  perfection.  If 
all  knew  of  a  future  existence  as  did  the  apostles  of  the  past,  or 
as  do  the  seers  of  the  present,  they  could  see  their  friends 
move  on  graveward  as  resignedly  as  they  see  them  start  for 
the  college,  or  for  a  pleasure-trip  to  Europe.  Heaven  is  the 
parlor  of  which  this  material  life  is  the  basement,  the  univer- 
sity of  which  this  is  the  primary  school,  the  inner  sanctuary 
of  holiness  of  which  this  is  the  outer  court.  Our  towns  and 
cities  are  man-made,  but  over  there  is  the  New  Jerusalem 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 

The  ideal  is  ever  beyond  us.  "■  Oh,"  says  the  weary  worker 
who  drops  his  chisel  before  the  marble,  "  I  can  imitate  the 
natural  object,  but  it  does  not  answer  my  ideal;  I  want  to 
achieve  something  better  and  nobler,  and  I  can  do  it."  "  Oh," 
says  the  poet,  "  I  can  sing  a  still  sweeter  song."  "  Oh,"  says 
the  philosopher,  "  there  are  more  boundless  depths  of  thought 
down  which  I  can  drop  the  plummet  of  my  searching-  intel- 
lect." Man  in  this  world  is  like  a  bird  beating  against  his 
cage.  There  is  something  beyond.  Oh,  deathless  soul,  why 
so  sigh,  like  a  sea-sheL,  moaning  for  the  bosom  of  the  ocean. 
"Tell  me  not  of  a  limitation,"  says  the  weary,  broken  heart, 
over  the  grave  of  its  hopes.  "  Tell  me  not  that  this  world  is 
all,"  says  the  bereaved  mother.  "  Tell  me  not  that  death  is  an 
eternal  sleep,"  says  the  broken  shadow  of  humanity.  And 
feeling  this  great  need  of  the  soul,  we  cling  to  the  Christ  of  the 
ages,  cling  to  the  golden  visions  of  the  prophets,  cling  to  the 
present  ministry  of  angels ! 

The  faith  of  the  trusting  child  in  Wordsworth's  poem  is 
infinitely  nearer  the  truth  than  many  of  the  sermons  of  the 
present  century.     The  poet  meeting  a  little  girl,  asked, 
8 


84  IMMORTALITY. 

"  *  Sistei-3  and  brothers,  little  Maid, 
How  many  may  you  be  ? ' 
'  How  many  ?  seven  in  all,'  she  said, 
And  loondering  looked  at  me. 

'  And  where  are  they,  I  pray  you  tell  > 
She  answered,  '  Seven  are  we; 

And  two  of  us  at  Conwaj'  dwell ; 
And  two  are  gone  to  sea ; 

Two  of  U3  in  the  churchyard  lie, 
My  sister  and  my  brother; 

And  in  the  churchyard  cottage  I 
Dwell  near  them  with  my  mother.' 


'  How  many  are  you  then  ? '  said  I, 

If  they  two  are  in  Heaven  ? ' 
The  little  Maid  did  still  reply, 
'  O  master !  we  ai-e  seven. 

Bat  they  are  dead,  those  two  are  dead  I 

Their  spirits  are  in  Heaven ! ' 
TSvas  throwing  words  away :  for  atiU 
The  little  Maid  would  have  her  will. 
And  said,  *  Nay,  we  are  seven  ! ' " 


To  the  heavenly-illumined  mind  of  this  little  child,  the  dead 
were  still  alive  «and  counted  as  a  part  of  the  family.  And 
none  of  us  should  refer  to  the  dead  as  if  they  were  not. — 
should  never  speak  of  them  as  buried,  —  never  say  we  have 
lost  them,  nor  tell  how  we  loved  them.  But  rather  should  we 
say,  "  They  have  passed  to  the  higher  life;  "  and,  "  Oh^  hotv  we 
still  love  them!'''  The  door  that  John  "saw  opened  in 
heaven  "  has  never  been  shut. 

The  pains,  spasms,  and  seeming  anguish  of  the  dying  are 
only  the  efforts  of  the  chained  and  imprisoned  spirit  to  break 
away  from  its  earthly  coffin  —  the  human  body.  It  is  beauti- 
ful to  bury  this  casket  in  morning-time,  just  as  the  sun  tips 
with  gold  the  hills  and  the  mountains.  And  it  is  in  good 
keeping  with  the  genius  of  the  spiritual  philosophy  to  put 
the  loved  one's  chair  at  the  table  still,  and  also  fragrant  blos- 
soms. The  angels  love  flowers —  white  roses  and  white  lUies 
—  because  they  symbolize  purity  and  holiness  of  life. 

"  And  I  sit  and  think,  as  the  sunset's  gold 
Is  flushing  river  and  hill  and  shore, 


FOKE-GLEAMS  OF  THE  FUTURE.  35 

I  shall  one  day  stand  by  the  waters  cold, 

And  list  for  the  sound  of  the  boatman's  oar; 
I  shall  watch  the  gleam  of  the  flappuig  sail, 

I  shall  hear  the  boat  as  it  gains  the  strand, 
I  shall  pass  from  sight  with  the  boatman  pale, 

To  the  better  shore  of  the  spirit  land; 
I  shall  know  the  loved  who  have  gone  before, 

And  joyfully  sweet  will  the  meeting  be, 
When  over  the  river,  the  peaceful  river, 

The  angel  of  death  shall  carry  me." 


DOfOBTAIJTT. 


OTTA.PTEK  V 

TESTIMONY  OP  SAINTS. 

•*  When  bom,  I  died ;  and  when  I  die  I  shall  be  born  —  bom  on  of  this  death-land  o 
dsrknefls  into  the  realm  of  real  life."  Pilortm. 

'*  The  dusty  house,  wherein  is  shrined 
The  soul,  is  but  the  counterfeit 
Of  that  which  shall  be  more  refined 
And  exquisite. 

The  light  to  which  our  night  belongs 

Unfolds  a  day  more  broad  and  clear ; 
Music  but  intimates  the  songs 

We  do  not  hear. 

When  death  shall  come,  and  disallow 
These  rou;:h  and  ugly  masks  we  wear, 

I  think  that  wo  shall  be  as  now, 

Only  more  fair."  Alicb  Carst. 

As  the  physical  birth  of  the  infant  is  death  to  the  placenta- 
envelope,  so  Lirth  into  spirit-life  involves  the  death  and  dis- 
integration of  the  physical  casket.  And  while  this  latter 
process  is  as  natural  as  beautiful,  it  implies  no  disorganization 
of  the  spiritual  body  —  no  cessation  of  conscious  existence. 

Duality  of  being  extends  to  human  consciousness.  The 
inner  consciousness  —  related  to  the  Infinite  Consciousness 
of  the  universe,  God  —  is  never  for  a  moment  suspended. 
And  just  prior  to,  and  during  the  change  called  dying,  it 
often  flames  up  the  brightest. 

"  If  I  had  strength  enough  to  hold  a  pen,"  said  the  eminent 
William  Hunter,  "I  would  write  how  easy  and  delightful  it 
is  to  die." 

The  distinguished  essayist,  Montaigne,  describing  an  acci- 
dent that  left  him  so  senseless  that  he  was  taken  up  for  dead, 
said  on  being  restored,  "  Methought  my  life  only  hung  upon 


THE   TESTIMONY   OP   SAINTS.  37 

my  lips,  and  I  shut  my  eyes  to  help  thrust  it  out  aiul  go.  I 
was  ex([uisitely  happy." 

The  editor  of  the  Euglish  Quarterly  Review  records  of  a 
friend  who  had  been  "rescued  from  drowning,  that  he  had 
not  experienced  the  slightest  feeling  of  suffocation.  The 
stream  was  transparent,  the  day  brilliant,  and  he  could  see 
the  sun  shining  through  the  water  ;  while  a  quiet  conscious- 
ness crept  over  him  that  his  eyes  were  about  to  be  closed 
upon  it  for  ever.  Yet  he  neither  feared  his  fate  nor  wished  to 
avert  it.  A  pleasant  sensation,  which  soothed  and  gratified 
him,  made  a  luxurious  bed  of  a  watery  grave." 

That  able  jurist,  the  late  Judge  Edmonds  of  New  York, 
related  to  me  the  following  of  his  Quaker  friend,  Isaac  T. 
Hopper  :  "  I  was  with  him  a  good  deal  before  he  died.  One 
day  I  left  his  residence  about  4  o'clock  ;  he  was  exceedingly 
feeble,  but  I  thought  he  might  survive  several  days,  perhaps 
weeks.  It  was  our  regular  s(3ance  evening,  and  at  8  o'clock 
we  met  to  hold  a  circle.  My  daughter's  hand  was  soon  influ- 
enced, writing  this:  ''lam  in  the  spirit-world.     I.  T.  H.'  " 

"  Who  is  that?"  inquired  a  gentleman  present. 

"  It  is  the  initials,"  replied  the  judge,  "  of  Isaac  T.  Hop- 
per ;  but  it  cannot  be  possible,  as  I  left  his  house  a  few  hours 
since,  thinking  he  might  survive  several  days  or  weeks." 

The  judge,  throwing  on  his  cloak,  hastened  to  his  Quaker 
friend's  residence,  when  there  lay  the  corpse,  and  the  friends 
standing  by  weeping.  Returning  and  re-forming  the  circle, 
the  same  hand  was  controlled  to  write : 

"  I  am  in  the  spirit  %oorld;  and  I  now  understand  what  the  apostle  meant  when  he 
said  we  shall  not  all  sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed  in  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye,  I  hate  not  slept  — I  have  not  been  wiconscious  for  a  moment ;  but  I  have 
been  changed  —  changing  my  mortal  for  my  spiritual  body  —  earth  for  heavsn  —  1 
mm  happy  beyond  expression." 

Sweetly  sings  the  poet : 

•*  I  rose  like  a  mist  from  the  mountain, 
When  day  walks  abroad  on  the  hills ; 
I  rose  like  a  spray  from  the  fountain, 
From  life  and  its  wearying  ills. 


88  IMMORTALITT. 

"  I  have  bathed  in  the  heavenly  river, 
I  have  chanted  the  seraphic  song ; 
And  I  walk  abroad  in  my  bii^litness, 
Amid  the  celestial  throng." 

In  natural  death,  the  process  is  gradual.  The  extremities 
first  grow  chilly  ;  then  the  feet  become  cold ;  and  then  the 
hands  and  arms,  to  the  shoulders.  The  pulse  continues  to 
beat  more  feeble  —  the  blood  purples  under  the  nails  —  the 
eye  becomes  dim,  and  the  breathing  more  difficult,  while  a 
silvery  aural  emanation,  rising  mist-like  from,  gathers  gently 
around  and  over  the  tremulous  body.  Spirit  friends  have 
already  come  to  attend  this  higher  birth.  Often  they  bring 
garments  white  and  glistening.  The  atmosphere  is  filled  with 
electric  particles  bright  and  silvery.  The  moment  of  transi- 
tion approaches.  The  stillness  is  holy  and  heavenly.  Only 
friends,  calm  and  loving,  should  be  present.  And  now  — 
noiv  a  slight  tremor,  and  that  ethereal  life-thread,  the  silver 
cord,  is  severed,  and  the  spiritual  body  is  released  from  the 
physical  tenement;  something  as  the  full-blowri  rose  is  un- 
rolled out  from  the  rose-bud  and  plucked  fi-om  the  parent  stem. 

When  departing.  Herbert,  the  poet,  was  asked  in  his  seem- 
ing death-struggles,  "  Are  you  suffering?  "  and  the  response, 
almost  with  the  last  breath,  was,  "  It  is  delightful ;  oh,  so 
delightful ! " 

The  English  Keats,  inquired  of,  a  little  before  he  crossed 
the  crystal  river,  how  he  felt,  replied  in  a  feeble  voice,  "  Bet- 
ter, my  friend.  I  feel  as  though  daisies  were  growing  all 
over  me." 

The  German  Schiller,  when  passing  to  the  better  land,  was 
asked  concerning  his  feelings.  ''Calmer  and  calmer^''  was  the 
prompt  reply. 

When  the  soul  of  that  poet-preacher.  Rev.  Charles  Sincom, 
was  departing,  he  looked  up  and  said,  "  There  is  nothing  but 
peace,  sweetest  peace.''' 

The  Rev.  J.  W.  Bailey,  a  Universalist  minister  whom  I 
knew  long  and  well,  and  knew  to  esteem  and  love,  passed 
on  several  years  since  to  the  higher  heavenly  world.     The 


THE  TESTIMONY   OF   SAINTS.  39 

day  before  he  passed  he  began  to  sing,  and  would  sing  for 
hours.  Mrs.  Bailey  asked  him,  "  Does  it  not  tire  you  to  sing 
BO  much?"  "Oh,  yes,"  said  he;  "but  I'm  so  happy — 
happy,  I  can't  help  it."  He  then  turned  his  eyes  to  his 
daughter  Emma,  and  said,  "  Do  not  weep  for  your  father, 
dear  child,  for  he  is  going  so  happy  —  going  home."  One 
by  one  we  pass  away ;  pass  to  meet  in  the  Father's  mansion. 

She  says  he  then  turned  his  eyes  upward,  and  oh,  how 
glorious  they  looked  I  They  seemed  illumined  with  heavenly 
light ;  but  he  stopped  breathing.  "  I  laid  my  hand  upon  his 
shoulder.  He  opened  his  eyes,  and  smiling  upon  me  said, 
'  Why,  I  thought  I  had  gone  to  the  spirit  world.  I  have  seen 
over  the  river,  and  I  can  now  see  on  both  sides.  It  is  beauti- 
ful on  this  side  ;  but  oh,  glorious,  glorious  on  the  other  1 
Why,  I  see  Ellen !  I  see  so  many  friends  there,  over  the 
river,  and  they  beckon,  beckon  to  me.  I  see  more,  vastly 
more  on  that  side  than  I  do  on  this.'  "  Mrs.  Bailey  adds : 
"  He  then  pressed  my  hand,  said  '  Do  not  grieve,'  smiled, 
waved  his  hand,  and  passed  on." 

When  a  Progressive  Friend  of  Philadelphia  visited  a 
Quaker  family  in  Ohio  a  few  years  since,  consisting  of  a 
father  and  lovely  daughter,  the  latter  pale  and  dying,  he 
inquired  of  her  if  she  knew  her  situation.  "  I  know  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth,"  said  she,  in  a  voice  of  subdued  and  heav- 
enly sweetness.  A  half  hour  passed,  and  she  spoke,  in  the 
same  melodious  tone,  "  Father,  I  am  cold."  And  the  vener- 
able man  reclined  by  his  dying  child,  endeavoring  to  restore 
warmth  to  her  stiffening  limbs  ;  and  she  twined  her  emaciated 
arms  around  his  neck,  and  murmured  in  a  subdued  voice, 
"  Dear  father,  dear  father."  "  My  child,"  said  the  sorrowing 
man,  "doth  the  flood  seem  deep  to  thee?"  "Nay,  father, 
for  my  soul  is  strong."  "  Seest  thou  the  thither  shore?" 
"  I  see  it,  father  ;  and  its  banks  are  green  with  immortal  ver- 
dure." "  Hearest  thou  the  voices  of  its  inhabitants  ?  "  "I 
hear  them,  father  ;  as  the  voices  of  angels  falling  from  afar  in 
the  still  and  solemn  night-time  ;  and  they  call  me.  Eer 
voice,  too,  father  ;  oh,  I  heard  it  then  1  "     "  Doth  she  speak 


40  IMMORTALITY. 

to  thee?  "  "  She  speaketh  in  tones  most  heavenly."  "  Doth 
she  smile  ?  "  "  An  angel  smile,  a  calm  and  holy  smile.  But 
I  am  cold,  cold,  cold  !  Father,  there's  a  mist  in  the  room. 
You'll  be  lonely,  lonely.  Is  this  death,  father?"  "It  is 
death,  INIary."  *■'  Thank  God  !  "  And  as  these  sweet  words 
died  away  upon  her  lips,  her  tranquil  spirit  went  to  revel  in 
the  celestial  splendors  of  Heaven. 

While  holding  the  pastoral  charge  of  a  church  in  the  city 
of  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  I  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  hospitable 
home  of  the  Rev.  S  J.  May,  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Royal-souled 
and  spiiitually-minded  by  nature,  he  was  gentle  and  loving 
as  a  child.  His  life-path  was  often  illumined  by  premonitions 
and  visions.  Recalling  the  dreamy  yet  really  spiritual  im- 
pressions of  the  past,  relative  to  the  early  departure  of  his 
little  brother  with  whom  he  had  clasped  hands,  eaten,  drank, 
and  slept  so  sweetly,  he  says  : 

"  There  lay  my  beloved  Edward  dead,  his  eyes  shut,  his  body  cold,  giving  no  replies 
to  the  tender  things  that  were  said  to  him,  taking  no  notice  of  all  that  was  being  done 
to  him  or  about  him.  I  gave  myself  up  to  a  passion  of  grief,  not  knowing  the  mean- 
ing of  what  I  saw,  but  feeling  that  some  awful  change  had  come  over  him.  When 
the  room  was  darkened,  and  my  father  and  mother  wei-e  about  to  withdraw,  I  begged 
them  to  let  me  lie  down  with  Edward.  My  importunity  was  so  passionate  that  my 
parents  were  almost  afraid,  aud  quite  too  tender,  to  withstand  it ;  so  I  was  covered 
with  a  shawl,  and  laid  by  my  dead  brother.  When  left  alone  with  him,  I  well  remem- 
ber how  I  kissed  his  cold  checks  and  lips,  pulled  open  his  eyelids,  begged  him  to 
speak  to  me,  and  finally  cried  mj-self  to  sleep. 

"  Most  vivid  is  my  recollection  of  the  funeral,  of  the  solemn  procession  to  the  burlal- 
gi-ound,  and  of  the  weeping  of  friends  and  relatives.  When  I  saw  them  take  the 
coffin  from  the  carriage,  and  can-y  it  off  towards  the  tomb,  I  insisted  upon  seeing  what 
they  were  going  to  do  with  Edward.  So  my  uncle,  Samuel  May,  took  me  in  his  arms, 
descended  with  me  into  the  family  vault,  and  showed  me  where  they  had  put  away  my 
brother.  Then  he  pointed  out  the  little  coffins  in  which  were  the  remains  of  several  of 
my  brothers  and  sisters,  who  had  lived  and  died  before  I  was  born,  and  the  coffin  in 
which  my  grandfather  was  laid  eight  years  before. 

"  My  kind  uncle  opened  one  of  the  coffins,  and  let  me  see  how  decayed  the  body  had 
become,  and  told  me  that  Edward's  body  would  decay  in  like  manner,  and  become  like 
the  dust  of  the  earth  ;  but  while  revealing  to  me  these  sad  facts,  he  assured  me  most 
tenderly  that  all  these  departed  ones  were  still  living ;  that  my  dear  brother's  spirit 
was  not  in  the  coffin,  but  was  clothed  with  another  and  more  spiritual  body,  and  living 
m  heaven  with  God  and  the  beautiful  angels.  I  went  home  in  a  sort  of  maze,  ciying, 
and  asking  questions  which  human  wisdom  could  not  answer. 

"  I  remember  that  my  only  brother  Charles,  then  a  lad  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of 
age,  tenderly  t<  \  me  to  his  room,  lay  down  with  me  on  his  bed,  and  tried  to  comfort 
me  and  himself  by  telling  me  all  that  he  imaffined  to  bfi  true  about  heaven,  God 


THE  TESTIMONY   OF   SAINTS.  41 

augel3,an(l  loving  spirits,  assuring  me  again,  as  others  had  done,  that  Edward  had  gone 
to  live  in  that  blessed  place,  in  that  happy  and  glorious  company. 

"  When  night  came  I  was  put  to  bed,  in  the  bed  where  I  had  so  often  slept  with  Ed- 
ward. Sleep  soon  came  to  relieve  my  young  spirit,  wearied  with  grief  and  str^age 
excitement,  and  in  uiy  dreams  all  that  had  been  told  me  proved  true.  The  ceiling  of 
the  room  seemed  to  open,  a  glorious  light  burst  in,  and  from  the  midst  of  it  came  down 
my  lost  brother,  attended  by  a  troop  of  child-angels.  They  left  him,  and  he  lay  down 
beside  me,  as  he  used  to  do.  He  told  me  what  a  beautiful  place  heaven  was,  and  how 
all  the  angels  loved  one  another.  There  he  lay  till  morning,  when  the  ceiling  above 
opened  again,  and  the  troop  of  angels  came  to  bear  him  back  to  heaven.  He  kissed 
me,  sent  messages  of  love  to  father  and  mother,  brother  and  sisters,  and  gladly  re- 
joined the  celestial  company. 

"  So  soon  as  I  awoke  and  was  dressed,  I  humed  down  to  tell  the  family  what  I  had 
seen,  and  to  give  them  the  kisses  and  messages  that  dear  Edward  had  sent  them.  The 
remarkable  thing  about  this  dream  was,  that  it  was  many  times  repeated,  that  night 
after  night  I  enjoyed  the  presence  of  my  brother,  that  morning  after  morning  I  went 
down  to  the  family  with  renewed  assurances  of  love  from  the  one  who  was  gone. 

"  By  degrees  my  grief  abated ;  the  loss  of  my  I)rothcr  was  in  some  measure  supplied 
by  other  playmates;  new  things  attracted  my  attention  and  occupied  my  thoughts. 
But  I  have  never  forgotten  my  Edward ;  the  events  of  his  death  and  burial,  and  the 
heavenly  vision,  are  all  still  vivid  in  my  memory ;  and  I  believe  the  experience  had 
great  influence  in  awaking  and  fixing  in  my  mind  the  full  faith  I  have  in  the  continu- 
ance of  life  after  death,  —  a  faith  so  strong  that  I  do  not  believe  more  fully  in  the  life 
that  now  is  than  in  that  which  is  to  come." 

In  the  early  years  of  my  ministry,  I  often  met  the  Re»^. 
D.  K.  Lee,  originally  of  Kelloggsville,  N.  Y.  Though  naturally 
timid  and  quiet  in  spirit,  he  was  earnest  in  preaching,  and  one 
of  the  excellent  men  of  earth.  These  lines  from  his  pen 
reveal  his  spirit : 

"  Let  me  go,  let  me  go !  for  the  mists  of  the  night 

From  the  wings  of  the  morning  are  sweeping. 
And  the  deserts  are  budding,  and  harvests  are  white, 

It  is  time  that  I  now  should  be  reaping ! 
I  have  slumbered  full  long  on  my  sickle,  I  fear, 

Since  around  me  the  reapers  were  waking  — 
In  the  gleamings  of  twilight  tlie  shades  disappear  — 

Let  me  go,  for  the  morning  is  breaking !  " 

In  the  later  years  of  his  well-spent  life  he  enjoyed  the  rich 
blessings  of  spirit  communion.  When  dying,  he  exclaimed : 
"The  cl  ildreu  are  coming  —  the  beautiful  children."  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Bartholomew,  in  a  very  appropriate  funeral  discourse, 
referred  to  the  opening  of  his  spiritual  sight  in  these  words : 

•'  I  do  not  wonder  that  in  nis  last  moments  a  vision  o'  children's  faces  wa«  opened 
to  bis  soul;  I  do  not  wonder  that  he  should  say,  '  The  children,  the  beautiful  children. 


42  IMMORTALITY. 

don't  you  see  them  f  God  sends  his  angels  and  ministering  spirits  to  us  in  our  trying 
nours,  to  bring  us  sti-ength  and  comfort,  and  to  fill  us  with  their  heavenly  peace.  Ho 
sends  us  such  angels  as  the  heart  craves  most  to  see.  And  I  do  not  wonder  that  angel- 
children  crowded  around  his  dying-bed.  There  were  the  children  that  had  gone  up 
from  tliis  congregation  to  join  the  glorified  in  heaven ;  the  children  in  whom  he  took 
such  interest  in  life,  whose  hearts  he  moulded,  and  on  whose  minds  he  poured  the 
light  of  truth;  the  children  in  whose  plays  and  pastimes  he  had  so  often  taken  part* 
they  came  to  him  in  his  dying-hour  to  welcome  him  to  their  home  above." 

Many  of  tlie  greatest  and  most  gifted  souls  of  earth  were 
endowed  with  spiritual  gifts.  Socrates,  Plato,  Proclus,  John 
the  Apostle,  Cicero,  Plutarch,  Tertullian,  Bacon,  Louis  XVI., 
Baxter,  Cowper,  Glanville,  Swedenborg,  Joan  of  Arc,  Ann 
Lee,  George  Fox,  Johnson,  Lessing,  Gcethe,  Kerner,  Wesley, — 
'hese,  and  others,  had  visions  of  Heaven,  visions  of  angels, 
visions  of  immortality  I 

How  sweet  this  old  hymn : 

"  We're  going  home !  we've  had  visions  bright 
Of  that  holy  land,  the  world  of  light, 
When  the  long  dark  night  of  time  is  past. 
And  the  morn  of  eternity  dawns  at  last; 
Where  the  weaiy  soul  no  more  shall  roam, 
But  dwell  in  a  happy,  peaceful  home ; 
Where  the  brow  with  sparkling  gems  is  crowned, 
And  the  waves  of  bliss  are  flowing  around ; 
Oh,  that  beautiful  home !  that  beautiful  world ! " 

Spiritualism  is  not  only  a  science  and  a  philosophy,  but  in 
its  highest  definition  it  is  a  religion  —  a  rational  religion,  har- 
monizing perfectly  with  the  sublime  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament.  Speaking  of  the  noble  and  philanthropic  James 
Arnold  Whipple,  the  Rev.  Adin  Ballon  says: 

"  In  religon  he  was  a  liberalist,  verging  for  years  on  scepticism,  but  aftei-wards  con- 
firmed by  Spiritualism  into  the  strongest  assurance  of  man's  future  immortal  existence. 
Even  after  embracing  Spiritualism,  he  doubted  the  uses  of  prayer  and  personal  exer- 
cises of  pictistic  devotion.  But  under  the  chastening  discipline  of  sickness,  he  was 
fully  drawn  away  from  that  extcrnalism  of  feeling  into  the  sphere  of  child-like  docility, 
contrition,  tender-hearted  and  confiding  prayerfulness.  It  was  a  blessed  unfoldmenf 
to  him,  his  companion  and  friends.  Meantime  his  spiritual  vision  w-is  opened  to  be- 
hold bright,  cheering,  consoling  spirits  from  the  immortal  world,  who  gathered  around 
MS  dying-bed,  and  gave  him  a  sweet  welcome  to  the  deathless  mansions." 

"I  see  things  unutterable,"  said  another  dying  servant  of 
God.     Elizabeth  Drinker,  a  Quakeress,  when  dying,  seemed 


THE  TESTIMONY   OF   SAINTS.  43 

much  supported  above  the  last  conflict,  and  with  an  animated 
countenance  said,  "Oh,  the  beauty!  the  excellent  beauty  I 
What  a  beautiful  view  I  have  of  the  hosts  of  heaven ! " 

Near  Whitb}^  in  Yorkshire,  there  lived  a  very  conscientioua 
man,  named  Sinclair.  He  had  a  family  of  children,  and  it 
was  his  great  concern,  and  unceasing  prayer,  that  they  might 
be  saved.  Christopher,  his  son,  when  but  twelve  j'ears  old, 
felt  a  strong  inclination  for  a  seafaring  life.  Accordingly,  he 
served  an  apprenticeship  under  the  master  of  a  ship;  but 
soon  afterwards  had  some  of  his  ribs  dislocated,  a  misfortune 
from  which  he  never  recovered. 

His  father  told  him  that  there  was  no  expectation  of  his 
being  restored,  yet  they  wished  to  ease  him  of  his  pain. 
"  Pain  !  "  said  this  moral  hero,  "  I  have  no  pain  ;  I  am  all  in 
a  flame  of  love." 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  he  died,  he  said 
to  his  father,  "  This  has  been  the  happiest  night  I  have  ever 
had;  and  now  the  blessed  morning  has  come  in  which  I  shall 
go  to  Jesus."  When  his  speech  failed  he  smiled,  and  looked 
up  to  heaven.  He  then  took  hold  of  his  father's  hand,  looked 
upwards,  and  seemed  as  though  he  would  point  to  some  object. 
He  tried  to  speak,  but  could  only  say,  "  Oh,  see  !  see !  "  Sud- 
denly his  face  shone  as  if  a  divine  ray  of  heavenly  light  rested 
upon  him.  This  continued  for  more  than  five  minutes,  after 
which  he  exclaimed,  '•'•  Ihave  seen  Jesus  and  the  angels.'''' 

His  uncle,  who  had  been  sent  for,  came  in  at  the  time,  and 
to  him  the  dying  young  saint  said,  "I  have  seen  heaven  — 
the  angels  —  I  can  speak  no  more."  The  uncle  felt  that  there 
was  a  presence  in  that  chamber  bej'ond  mortal  creatures.  He 
knelt  down,  and  whilst  praying  that  a  convoy  of  angels  might 
carry  the  disembodied  spirit  to  Paradise,  the  happy  soul 
passed  through  death  triumphant  home.  For  some  days  after- 
wards his  friends  talked  to  each  other  of  the  sudden  appear- 
ance of  the  heavenly  beam  of  light  which  they  recognized 
just  before  the  young  man  died,  and  of  the  awe,  yet  peaceful 
feeling,  they  had  of  a  gracious  spiritual  presence. 

The  cold  formalisms  of  theologians  may,  in  a  measure,  do 


44  IMMORTALITY. 

to  live  by;  but  they  will  not  stand  the  trying  test  of  the 
dying-hour.  Then,  if  never  before,  is  the  Spiritualism  of  the 
ages — the  Spiritualism  of  the  New  Testament —  the  Spirit- 
ualism of  prayer  —  the  Spiritualism  of  hope  and  trust  and 
knowledge,  truly  precious.  Only  a  few  weeks  since,  while 
standing  by  the  bedside  of  a  dying  mother,  who  had  long 
been  blessed  with  the  gift  of  clairvoyance,  she  exclaimed : 
"There  —  that  band  of  angels  are  coming  again;  one  brings 
a  white  robe.  Do  you  not  hear  the  song  they  sing  ?  Oh,  why 
do  you  cry  so  ?  why  keep  me  from  my  dear  ones  ?  How  light 
the  room  is !  Do  not  say,  '  Good  night,'  but  wait  a  little,  and 
we'll  say,  '  Good  morning.''  " 

When  Mrs.  Pinkerton,  a  medium  and  spiritualist  lecturer, 
was  passing  down  into  death's  rolling  waves,  she  exclaimed, 
"  This  is  a  glorious  doctrine  to  die  by,  friends  ;  continue  in  the 
good  work  —  it  will  be  a  great  thing  if  you  can  only  free  a 
few  from  the  shackles  of  theological  dogmas."  She  bade  the 
unstable  to  stand  fast,  and  exclaimed,  in  transports  of  rapture 
and  delight,  "  This  is  the  best  day  of  my  life ;  I  hear  the 
angels  singing;  I  am  happy,  happy,  happy!  "  To  the  skeptics 
present  she  said:  "Doubt  no  more  —  I  know  there  is  a  blessed, 
glorious,  eternal  life."  And  while  a  few  friends,  by  her  re- 
quest, sang, 

"  Joyfully,  jo5'fully,  onward  I  move, 
Bound  for  the  land  of  bright  spirits  above," 

she  clapped  her  hands,  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  hinder  me  not,  for  I 
want  to  go  home.  I'm  going.  I  am  almost  over  the  river. 
The  voyage  is  pleasant." 

Angels  only  know  how  deeply  I  am  interested  in  the  fam- 
ily history  of  Louis  XVI.,  the  kind-hearted  Bourbon  king. 
Beauchesne  of  Paris,  writing  of  the  unfortunate  Louis'  son, 
the  idolized  prince,  says  : 

"  When  the  Dauphin,  hardly  eleven  years  of  age,  was  lying  sick  upon  his  bed  of 
rags,  he  exclaimed,  '  I  hear  mifiic  !  music' 

"  Gomin,  surprised,  asked  him,  '  Where  do  you  hear  the  music  ?*  'From  on  high.' 
'  How  long  since  ? '  '  Since  you  have  been  on  j'our  knees.  Don't  you  liear  it  ?  T-isten! 
listen!'  And  the  child  raised  his  failing  arm,  and  opened  his  large  eyes,  lightiMl  up 
with  ecstasy.     Ilis  poor  guardian,  not  wishing  to  destroy  this  sweet  and  heavenly  il!n 


THE  TESTIMONY   OF  SAINTS.  45 

sion  act  himself  to  listen  also,  with  the  pious  desire  of  hearing  what  could  not  b« 
heard. 

"  After  some  moments  of  attention,  the  cbild  started  again,  his  eyes  glistened,  and 
he  exclaimed  in  an  inexpressible  transport, '  In  the  midst  of  all  the  voices  I  heard  my 
mother's ! ' 

"  This  word  seemed,  as  it  fell  from  the  oi-phan's  lips,  to  remove  all  his  pain.  Flis 
contracted  brows  expanded,  and  his  countenance  brightened  up  with  that  ray  of  serenity 
which  gives  assurance  of  deliverance  or  victoiy.  With  his  eyes  fixed  upon  a  vision, 
his  ear  listening  to  the  distant  music  of  one  of  those  concerts  that  human  ear  has 
never  heard,  there  appeared  to  spring  forth  in  liis  child's  soul  another  existence. 

"An  instant  afterwards  tlie  brilliancy  of  his  eye  became  extinguished,  he  crossed 
his  arras  upon  his  breast,  and  an  expression  of  sinking  showed  itself  upon  his  face. 

"Gomin  ol)SciTcd  him  closely,  and  followed  witli  an  anxious  eye  every  movement. 
His  breathing  was  no  longer  painful ;  his  eye  alone  seemed  slowly  to  wander,  looking 
from  time  to  time  towards  the  window.  .  .  .  Gomin  asked  him  what  it  was  he  was 
looking  at  in  that  direction.  The  child  looked  at  his  guardian  a  moment,  and  although 
the  question  was  repeated,  he  seemed  not  to  understand  it,  and  did  not  answer. 

"  Lasne  came  up  from  below  to  relieve  Gomin ;  the  latter  went  out,  his  heart  op- 
pressed, but  not  more  anxious  than  on  the  evening  before,  for  he  did  not  expect  an  im- 
mediate termination.  Lasne  took  bis  seat  near  the  bed ;  the  prince  regarded  him  for  a 
long  time  with  a  fixed  and  dreamy  look.  When  he  made  a  slight  movement,  Lasno 
asked  him  how  he  was,  and  if  he  wanted  anything.  The  child  said,  '  Do  you  think 
that  my  sister  has  heard  the  music  ?  How  happy  it  would  have  made  her  ? '  Lasne 
was  unable  to  answer.  Tlie  eager  and  penetrating  look,  full  of  anguisli,  of  the  dying 
child  darted  towards  the  window.  An  exclamation  of  happiness  escaped  his  lips ;  then 
loolving  towards  his  guardian,  he  said,  'I  have  one  thing  to  tell  you.'  .  .  •  Lasne  ap 
proached  and  took  his  hand;  the  little  head  of  the  prisoner  fell  upon  his  guaixlian't 
breast,  who  listened  to  him,  but  in  vain.  His  last  words  had  been  spoken.  God  hat" 
spared  the  young  martyr  the  agony  of  the  dying  rattle ;  God  had  kept  for  himself  the 
last  thought  of  the  child.  Lasne  put  his  hand  upon  the  heart  of  the  child :  the  pura 
heart  of  Louis  XVII.  had  ceased  to  beat.  It  was  half  past  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon." 

When  Mozart  had  given  the  finishing  touches  to  his  won- 
flerfiil  Requiem,  his  last  and  sweetest  composition,  he  fell 
into  a  quiet  and  composed  slumber.  On  awakening,  he  said 
to  his  daughter,  "Come  hither,  my  Emilie  ;  my  task  is  done; 
the  Requiem  is  done  — my  Requiem  is  finished."  "  Oh,  no," 
said  the  gentle  girl,  the  tears  filling  her  eyes ;  "  you  will  be 
better  now  ;  let  me  go  and  bring  you  something  refreshing." 
"  Do  not  deceive  yourself,  my  love,"  he  replied,  "  I  am  beyond 
human  aid ;  I  am  dying,  and  I  look  to  Heaven's  mercy  only  for 
aid.  You  spoke  of  refreshment — take  these  last  notes  of  mine, 
sit  down  by  my  piano  here,  sing  them  with  the  hymn  of  your 
sainted  mother  ;  let  me  once  more  hear  those  tones  which 
have  so  long  been  my  solace  and   delight."     His  daughter 


46  IMMORTALITY. 

complied,  and,  with  a  voice  tremulous  with  emotion,  sang  the 
following: 

"  Spirit,  thy  labor  is  o'er, 

Thy  earthly  probation  is  run ; 
Thy  steps  are  now  bound  for  the  unknown  shore, 
And  the  race  of  immortals  begun. 

Spirit,  look  not  ou  the  strife. 

Or  the  pleasures  of  earth  with  regret; 
Pause  not  on  the  threshold  of  limitless  life 

To  mourn  for  the  day  that  is  set. 

Spirit,  no  fetters  can  bind. 

No  wicked  have  power  to  molest ; 
There  the  weary  like  thee,  the  ^vTCtched,  shall  find 

A  haven,  a  mansion  of  rest. 

Spirit,  how  bright  is  the  road 

For  which  thou  art  now  on  the  wing ! 
Thy  home  —  it  will  be  with  the  angels  of  God, 

Their  loud  Alleluias  to  sing." 

"  As  she  concluded,  she  dwelt  for  a  moment  on  the  low 
melancholy  notes  of  the  piece,  and  then  turned  from  the  in- 
strument to  meet  the  approving  smile  of  her  father.  It  was 
the  still,  passionless  smile  which  the  rapt  and  departed  spirit 
left  upon  the  features." 

Reaching  Paris  by  way  of  Egypt  and  Italy,  from  the  East, 
on  my  way  around  the  world,  I  met  that  distinguished  author, 
statesman,  and  spiritualist,  Victor  Hugo,  in  Mrs.  HoUis-Bil- 
lings'  stance-rooms.  He  came  out,  weeping  tears  of  gladness; 
for  a  loved  son  had  held  converse  with  a  loving  father.  Like 
Camille  Flammarion,  the  French  astronomer,  like  J.  H.  Fichte, 
the  great  German  philosopher,  Victor  Hugo  is  a  brave,  out- 
spoken spiritualist;  and  this  accounts  for  his  thrilling  sen- 
tences and  Heaven-inspired  ideas  relating  to  law  and  liberty, 
to  deatli  and  the  immortal  life.  Standing  over  the  corpse  of 
one  he  loves,  he  says : 

"  I  bless  him  in  the  great  hereafter.  In  the  name  of  the  sonows  whereon  he  gently 
beamed,  and  of  the  shadows  he  smiled  into  sunshine;  in  the  name  of  terrestrial  things 
he  once  hoped  for,  and  of  celestial  things  which  he  now  enjoys;  in  the  name  of  all  he 
loved,  I  bless  him.  I  bless  him  in  his  youth,  in  his  beauty,  in  his  innocence,  in  his  life, 
and  in  his  death.  I  bless  him  in  his  white,  sepulchral  robes ;  in  his  home  which  he 
has  left ;  in  his  coffin  which  his  friends  filled  with  flowers,  and  which  God  filled  with 
atan." 


THE  TESTmONT  OF   SAINTS.  47 

"  The  dead  are  invisible,  but  they  are  not  absent.  Let  us  be  just  to  death.  Let  us 
Bot  be  ungrateful  to  death.  It  is  not,  as  has  been  said,  a  ruin  and  a  snare.  It  is  an 
error  to  think  that  here  in  the  darkness  of  the  open  grave  all  is  lost  to  us.  There 
eventhing  is  found  again.  The  gi-ave  is  a  place  of  restitution ;  there  the  soul  resumes 
the  infinite,  there  it  recovers  its  plenitude.  There  it  re-enters  on  the  possession  of  all 
its  mysterious  nature ;  it  is  set  free  from  the  body,  from  want,  from  its  burden,  from 
fatality.  Death  is  the  greatest  of  libeitics ;  it  is  also  the  furthest  progress.  Death 
is  a  higher  step  for  all  who  have  lived  upon  its  height.  Dazzling  and  holy  eveiy 
one  receives  his  inci-ease,  everything  is  transfigured  in  the  light  and  by  the  light. 
He  who  has  been  no  more  than  virtuous  on  earth  becomes  beauteous;  he  who  has 
only  been  beauteous  becomes  sublime;  and  he  who  has  only  been  sublime  becomes 
good.    Progiess  is  for  all !  progress  is  eternal !  " 

In  speaking  at  a  Parisian  party  of  litterateurs  upon  the  subject 
of  immortality,  his  face  brightening  up  into  a  sun  of  trans- 
figured beauty,  he  said : 

"There  are  no  occult  forces;  there  are  only  luminous  forces.  Occult  force  is 
chaos,  the  luminous  force  is  God.  Man  is  an  infinitely  little  copy  of  God ;  this  is  glory 
enough  for  man.  I  am  a  man,  an  invisible  atom,  a  drop  in  the  ocean,  a  grain  of  sand 
on  the  shore.  Little  as  I  am,  I  feel  the  God  in  me,  because  I  can  also  bring  form  out 
of  my  chaos.  I  make  hooks,  which  are  creations.  I  feel  in  myself  the  future  life.  I 
am  like  a  forest  which  has  been  more  than  once  cut  down.  The  new  shoots  are 
stronger  and  livelier  than  ever.  I  am  rising,  I  know,  toward  the  sky.  The  sunshine 
is  on  my  head.  The  earth  gives  me  its  generous  sap,  but  heaven  lights  me  with  the 
reflection  of  unknown  worlds.  You  say  the  soul  is  nothing  but  the  resultant  of  bodily 
powei-3.  Why  then  is  my  soul  the  more  lumiuous  when  my  bodily  powers  begin  to 
fail  ?  Winter  is  on  my  head,  and  eternal  spring  is  in  my  heart.  There  I  breathe  at 
this  hour  the  fragrance  of  the  lilacs,  the  violets,  and  the  roses,  as  at  twenty  years. 
The  nearer  I  approach  the  end,  the  plainer  I  hear  around  me  the  immortal  symphonies 
of  the  worlds  which  invite  me.  It  is  mai-velous,  yet  simple.  It  is  a  faiiy  tale,  and  it  is 
history.  For  half  a  century  I  have  been  writing  my  thoughts  in  prose  and  verse;  his- 
tory, philosophy,  drama,  romance,  tradition,  satire,  ode,  and  song  —  I  have  tried  all. 
But  I  feel  I  have  not  said  the  thousandth  part  of  what  is  in  me.  ^\'hen  I  go  down  to 
the  grave  I  can  say,  like  so  many  others, '  I  have  finished  my  day's  work,'  but  I  cannot 
Bay,  •  I  have  finished  my  life.'  My  day's  work  will  begin  again  the  next  morning. 
The  tomb  is  not  a  blind  alley ;  it  is  a  thoroughfare.  It  closes  on  the  twilight  to  open 
vitfa  the  dawn  —  the  dawn  of  an  immortal  morning  1 " 


48  IMMOETALITT. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  ORIGIN,   GROWTH,   AND   PERFECTION  OF  THE  SPIRITUAli 
BODY. 

"  There  is  a  natural  body  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body."  —  TAVh. 

"  Nor  fear  the  pave,  that  door  of  heaven  on  earth ; 
All  changed  and  beautiful  ye  shall  come  forth, 
As  from  the  cold  dark  cloud  the  winter  showers 
Go  underground  to  dress,  and  come  forth  flowers." 

Gerald  Masset. 

Something  what  the  bird  is  to  the  shell  —  what  the  juicy 
pulp  is  to  the  orange,  the  spiritual  body  is  to  the  organic 
man.  The  rind  aptly  symbolizes  the  outer  physical  body, 
and  the  orange  seed  the  soul-germ. 

In  this  stage  of  existence  man  is  triune  —  soul,  spiritual 
body,  earthly  body.  In  the  future  intermediate  state  of  being 
he  will  be  dual  —  soul  and  spiritual  body ;  the  former  a  poten- 
tialized  portion  of  the  Over-soul,  God. 

The  query  may  here  arise,  whether,  when  the  celestial 
degree  or  state  of  angelhood  is  resumed,  man  will  not  once 
more  enjoy  the  threefold  state  by  the  possession  of  a  body- 
form  derived  from  the  more  perfected  or  etherealized  com- 
bination of  chemical  substance  through  a  process  of  material- 
ization? Prophecy,  resurrection  doctrines,  and  materializing 
phenomena  foreshadow  such  a  conclusion.  Moreover,  if  this 
outer  zone  of  material  substance  shall  be  added  to  the  aromal 
bod)  of  the  soul,  it  will  be  practically  immortal  and  free  from 
the  disorders  to  which  our  present  mortal  bodies  are  subject. 

The  spiritual  body  is  not  a  newly  organized  and  ethereal- 
ized body  that  we  are  to  have  in  the  morning  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, for  we  have  it  now.  It  is  within  us,  and  in  a  secondary 
sense  is  the  life  of  the  physical  body.  The-  two  bodies  in 
point  of  time  are  co-existent.     And  the  soul,  allied  to,  and 


DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE   BPIBITUAL  BODY.  49 

rooted  in  God,  has  been  manufacturing  and  moulding  this 
spiritual  body  from  the  moment  of  conception. 

Interpenetrating  and  infilling  the  atmosphere  that  surrounds 
our  earth  there  is  a  pulsating  spiritual  atmosphere.  Every 
element,  monad,  molecule  —  dual  doubtless  in  construction 

—  is  constituted  of  physical  matter  and  spiritual  substance; 
and  the  spiritual  substances  in  the  air  we  breathe,  the  food 
we  eat,  and  the  auras  we  appropriate,  go  to  make  and  support 
our  spiritual  bodies. 

Physical  matter  is  not  transmitted,  nor  can  it  become,  by 
any  law  of  progress,  essential  soul — that  is,  pure  Intelli- 
gence !  We  only  know  of  soul  by  its  manifestations.  We 
are  finite  beings,  and  accordingly  our  thoughts  and  percep- 
tions have  their  limitations  and  impossibilities.  God  will  be 
the  unsolved  problem  of  eternity.  It  is  as  absolutely  impos- 
sible for  the  finite  to  fathom  the  Infinite  as  for  two  parallel 
lines  to  meet. 

The  spiritual  body,  even  while  enshrined  in  the  earthly, 
requires  spiritual  sustenance.  This  it  derives,  as  we  have 
before  intimated,  from  the  etherealized  essences  of  grains, 
fruits,  and  from  spirit-auras  ;  and  digesting,  assimilates  them  ; 

—  while  the  soul  requires  and  finds  its  sustenance  in  the  recep- 
tion and  appropriation  of  such  divine  principles  as  affection, 
goodness,  truth,  and  wisdom.  To  properly  feed  a  spiritually- 
minded  man  in  this  world  is  to  educate  and  instruct  him  in 
spiritual  things.  And  this  is  especially  true  of  those  who 
inhabit  the  heavenly  life.  "  Lord,"  exclaimed  the  disciples, 
"evermore  give  us  this  bread."  On  the  tomb  of  a  Pharaoh 
at  Thebes,  in  letters  exquisitely  graved  three  thousand  years 
ago,  perhaps,  are  these  words :  "I  lived  in  truth,  and  fed  my 
Eoul  with  justice  and  wisdom.  What  I  did  for  men  I  did  in 
peace,  and  how  I  loved  God,  God  and  my  heart  well  know." 

If  I  had  been  asked,  while  feeling  my  way  by  the  dim 
twilight  of  theological  dogmas,  to  define  the  spiritual  body,  I 
should  probably  have  said:  "The  spiritual  body,  —  why,  it  is 
a  thin,  aerial,  immaterial  sort  of  a  shapeless  essence,  that  in 
the  dying-hour  floats  away  into  space,  awaiting  the  sounding 
4 


<^0  IMMORTALITT. 

of  the  trumpet  and  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  ! "  But  the 
heavens,  opened  as  thej  are  in  this  nineteenth  century,  the 
descending  angels  have  taught  us  that  the  spiritual  body  is  a 
real  body ;  that  the  spiritual  man  is  the  real  man  with  the 
spiritual  form  and  senses  etherealized  and  more  thoroughly 
perfected.  The  spiritual  body  is  particled,  and  accordingly 
subject  to  waste  and  supply.  Aflame  with  life  and  action,  it 
continually  casts  off  a  coarser  and  takes  to  itself  and  appro- 
priates that  which  is  more  ethereal  and  beautiful. 

The  clairvoyant  and  clairaudient  have  the  phj^sical  and 
spiritual  senses  both  open  at  the  same  time,  enabling  them  to 
commune  with  men  and  spirits,  and  to  hear  the  music  of  earth 
and  the  music  of  the  angels.  The  sages  of  India,  the  Magi 
of  the  East,  the  prophets  of  Israel,  the  apostles  of  Syria, 
Swedenborg,  Wesley,  Ann  Lee,  and  others  were  thus  condi- 
tioned in  the  past ;  and  so  are  the  genuine  mediums  of  the 
present —  enabling  them  to  consciously  and  visibly  converse 
with  the  inhabitants  of  the  spirit-world. 

Though  the  spiritual  body  is  encased  in  the  physical,  the 
latter  does  not  necessarily  reflect  the  perfect  image  of  the 
spiritual  man.  Other  things  being  equal,  however,  this  is 
largely  true.  Still,  the  influences  of  hereditary  descent  and 
the  psychological  imprint  of  the  parents  often  render  the 
external  unlike  the  face  and  form  of  the  indwelling  spirit. 
Physical  deformities  do  not  pertain  to  the  spirit.  The  out- 
wardly ugly  are  often  beautiful  within  —  and  beautiful,  because 
their  spiritual  natures  have  subsisted  upon  purity,  love,  and 
truth.  Many  who  are  crooked  and  deformed  in  limb,  and  who 
have  uncomely  bodies,  have  interior  spiritual  bodies  of  exqui- 
site beauty  and  manliness.  Good  deeds  brighten  and  beautify. 
To  distribute  and  confer  blessings  upon  others  gives  sweet- 
ness  and  serenity  to  the  spiritual  features.  The  truly  good, 
however  old  and  wrinkled,  are  spiritually  beautiful.  "  In  the 
other  life,"  says  the  gifted  Edmund  H.  Sears,  "appears  the 
wonderful  paradox  that  the  oldest  people  are  the  youngest. 
To  grow  in  age  is  to  come  into  everlasting  youth.  To  become 
old  in  years  is  to  put  on  the  freshness  of  perpetual  prime. 


DEVELOPMENT   OP   THE   SPIRITUAL  BODY.  61 

We  drop  from  us  the  debris  of  the  past ;  we  breathe  the  ether 
of  immortality,  and  our  cheeks  mantle  with  eternal  bloom." 

In  Theodore  Parker'e  great  sermon  entitled  "  Old  Age,"  he 
makes  use  of  this  symbol  from  natural  life :  "  The  stick  on  his 
andirons  snaps  asunder,  and  falls  outward.  Two  faintly- 
smoking  brands  stand  there.  Grandfather  lays  them  together 
and  they  flame  up ;  the  two  smokes  are  united  in  one  flame. 
'  Even  so  let  it  be  in  heaven.'  " 

In  the  gardens  and  paradises  "^f  hepven,  living  souls  meet 
and  mingle  as  do  the  pearling  dewaror>?  of  morning. 

While  a  physical  atmosphere  ervej  ir-^  our  earth,  the  spirit- 
ual atmosphere,  like  a  measureless  ocean  ol  light,  encircles  and 
bathes  in  peerless  splendor  these  worlds  and  astral  systems  that 
stud  the  fields  of  Infinity.  Passing  through  the  vine-encircled 
door  of  death  into  the  world  of  spirits,  to  consciously  inhale 
this  atmosphere,  everything  seems  so  real,  so  substantial,  so 
spiritually  natural,  that  many  cannot  at  first  understand  that 
their  bodies  are  dead  —  that  they  have  really  been  translated 
from  the  rudimental  to  the  next  and  higher  stage  of  exist- 
ence. They  think  they  are  half  a-dreaming.  To  be  sure, 
they  cognize  the  fact  that  they  live  —  that  their  spiritual 
bodies  are  perfect  in  structure  and  function  —  that  their 
hearts  throb,  their  lungs  expand,  their  ears  hear,  their  lips 
speak,  and  their  eyes  behold  the  friends  that  had  previously 
crossed  the  crystal  river  ;  and  still,  they  wonder  I 

It  is  only  through  the  prophets  of  old  and  the  intermedia- 
ries of  the  present  that  we  know  the  nature  of  the  spiritual 
body ;  know  the  occupations  of  spirit-life,  and  the  social 
activities  that  obtain  in  "  that  city  that  hath  foundations, 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God."  Scientific  men  are 
cautiously  approaching  this  realm  of  the  spiritual.  Accord- 
ingly, Professor  Winchell,  of  the  Michigan  University,  says : 

"  The  unseen  world  is  destined  to  become  like  a  newly-discovered  continent.  We 
shall  visit  it ;  we  shall  hold  communion  with  it ;  we  shall  wonder  how  so  many  thou- 
sand years  could  have  passed  without  our  being  introduced  to  it.  We  shall  learn  o/ 
other  modes  of  existeuce — intermediate^  perhaps,  between  body  and  spirit  —  liaving 
the  forms  and  limitations  in  space  peculiar  to  matter,  with  the  penetrability  and  invisi- 
bility of  spirit.    And  who  can  say  that  we  may  not  yet  obtain  such  knowledv*  ot  th« 


t>2  IMMORTALITY. 

modes  of  existence  of  other  bodies  as  to  discover  the  means  of  rendering  them  visible 
to  our  bodily  eyes,  as  we  now  hold  conversation  with  a  friend  upon  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific,  or  in  the  heart  of  Europe,  or  fly  with  the  superhuman  velocity  of  the  wind 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi  valley  ?  Then  may  wc  not  at  last  gaze  upon  the 
ipiritxtal  bodies  in  which  our  departed  friends  reside,  and  discover  the  means  of  listen- 
ing to  their  spirit  voices,  and  join  hands  consciously  with  the  heavenly  host  ? " 

All  this  is  accomplished.  The  immortal,  vestured  in  tempo- 
rary clothing,  walk  in  our  midst.  Like  Jesus,  who  appeared 
m  the  "upper  room,  the  door  being  shut,"  they  "  vanish" 
from  sight.  Only  those  whose  eyes  are  "  holden  "  fail  to  see 
chem.  They  come  to  demonstrate  a  future  existence ;  to 
remap  and  revise  the  geography  of  other  lands  than  ours  • 
and  to  reveal  the  glories  of  those  heavenly  spheres. 

"  Where  the  faded  flower  shall  freshen, 

Freshen  never  more  to  fade ; 
Where  the  shaded  sky  shall  brighten, 

Brighten  never  more  to  shade ; 
Where  the  sun-blaze  never  scorches, 

Where  the  star-beams  cease  to  chill. 
Where  no  tempest  stirs  the  echoes 

Of  the  wood  or  wave  or  hill : 
Where  the  morn  shall  wake  in  gladness, 

And  the  moon  the  joy  prolong ; 
Where  the  daylight  dies  in  fragrance, 

Mid  the  burst  of  holy  song ; 
Where  the  bond  is  never  severed. 

Partings,  claspings,  sobs,  and  moans. 
Midnight  waking,  twilight  weeping. 

Heavy  noontide —  all  are  done. 
Where  dear  friends  in  kingly  glory, 

Such  as  earth  has  never  known. 
Shall  each  take  the  righteous  scepter, 

C!Uim  and  wear  the  heavenly  ciwra.' 


IS  IT  THB  SOUIi  OE   THE  BODY  THAT   8LN3  ?  53 


CHAPTER    VII. 

IS  IT  THB  SOUL  OR   THE  BODY   THAT  8IN8  ? 

"  I  kaow  not  what  triab  thy  poor  heart  hath  had, 
I  only  know  mine  have  driven  me  mad ! 
The  world  may  have  touched  thee,  and  left  its  fouj  taint, 
For  none  can  escape  it,  nor  sinner  nor  saint. 

I  know  what  this  life  is  —  Ah !  God  help  us  all, 

For  the  bravest  and  best  in  the  battle  may  fall ; 

I'll  not  judge  thee  rashly —  no,  Ileaven  forefend, 

Tis  a  cold  word  to  utter,  —  but,  '  I'm  ever  thy  friend !  * " 

11.  ClaT  PBBI788. 
"  For  I  came  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  to  save  the  world."    Jbsus. 

Just  as  the  body  is  the  subject  of  health  and  disease,  just 
as  there  is  order  and  disorder  in  its  functional  relations,  so  is 
there  harmony  and  inharmony,  good  and  evil,  in  the  moral 
universe.  Evil  is  not  "  undeveloped  good,"  but  directly  the 
opposite  of  good.  And  man  as  a  moral  actor  is  therefore  the 
subject  of  rewards  and  disciplinary  punishments. 

Just  as  character  is  more  than  reputation,  being  is  more  than 
doing  ;  so  each  man's  justification  or  condemnation  comes 
from  what  lie  absolutely  is,  in  and  of  himself.  The  judg- 
ment-seat is  within,  and  conscience,  in  connection  with  the 
moral  faculties,  there  sits  enthroned  as  judge.  The  seeming 
in  society  is  often  an  illusion.  And  yet,  external  respecta- 
bility, like  merchandise,  has  its  market-price.  The  hells  are 
crowded  with  proud  and  respectable  hypocrites  of  earth. 
Jesus,  eating  with  publicans  and  sinners,  "•  made  himself," 
said  an  apostle,  "of  no  reputation;"  but  his  character,  oh, 
how  divine  I 

Doing  may  be  imitated,  being  cannot.  The  virtues  may 
be  copied  ;  but  virtue,  as  an  original  principle  or  motive,  is  a 


64  IMMOBTAUTY. 

part  of  the  divine  selfhood.  It  was  not  "  virtue"  that  Jesus 
"  felt  go  out  of  him,"  but  nervo-magnetism.  Works  of  right- 
eousness borrowed  —  works  undertaken  as  a  speculation  to 
secure  Heaven,  are  valueless,  because  selfish.  The  best  acts 
are  praiseworthy  only  so  far  as  they  are  the  exponents  of  the 
moral  life,  and  have  in  view  the  good  of  humanity. 

Psychology  and  phrenology,  now  received  into  the  pan- 
theon of  the  sciences,  prove  man  to  be  a  moral  being,  having 
moral  brain-faculties.  And  moral  being  implies  moral  law, 
and  moral  law  implies  not  only  conscience  and  freedom,  but 
moral  government  and  compensation. 

Conscience,  in  connection  with  moral  judgment,  ever 
prompts  to  the  right ;  but  the  perceptive  and  reflecting 
organs,  coupled  with  moral  consciousness,  must  ever  deter- 
mine what  that  right  is.  This  applies  to  every  scale  of  life. 
"  Green  apples  are  good,"  says  a  prominent  Spiritualist  writer, 
—  "  good  in  their  place,  as  the  ripened  ones  of  October." 
True ;  but  why  compare  green  apples  to  states  of  evil  ? 
Unripe  fruit  represents  a  stage  of  growth  in  accordance  with 
the  divine  order,  as  childhood  is  according  to  divine  order ; 
but  hate,  malice,  falsity,  and  unchastity  are  inversions  of  the 
divine  order,  and  hence  bear  no  correspondence  to  unripe 
fruit.  And  further,  the  one  who  compares  green  apples, 
which  are  utterly  destitute  of  intelligence  and  moral  percep- 
tion, with-  the  willful  perversions  of  human  nature,  exhibits 
a  process  of  reasoning  which  deserves  the  appellation  — 
unparalleled  sophistry  !  No  moral  quality  inheres  in  apples. 
They  are  neither  "good"  nor  evil,  because  moral  qualities 
pertain  to  moral  beings  —  not  unconscious  fruit,  or  blind 
forces. 

A  machine  may  be  constructed  with  such  precision  that 
the  action  of  each  screw  and  wheel  is  controlled  and  deter- 
mined with  mathematical  exactness.  But  it  is  a  machine^ 
nevertheless,  and  incapable  of  love  or  hate,  good  or  evil.  If 
man,  instead  of  being  a  conscious  spirit,  were  a  mere  machine^ 
tliere  would  be  no  moral  wrong  on  earth,  and  there  should  be 
Qeither  rewards  nor  punishments. 


T8   IT  THE   SOUL   OR   THE  BODY   THAT   SINS?  56 

There  are  pseudo-philosophers  who  with  great  confidence 
assure  us  that  there  is  no  moral  evil  in  the  universe  —  only  a 
graded  or  lower  degree  of  good.  But  is  a  positive  lie  a  lower 
degree  of  truth?  Malice  a  lower  degree  of  mercy?  and 
burning  lust  a  lower  degree  of  chastity?  To  enunciate  is  to 
reveal  the  terrible  hideousness  of  such  reasoning.  Good  and 
evil  are  moral  conditions,  each  real  and  positive,  according  as 
it  becomes  the  leading  force  in  purpose  or  quality  of  charac- 
ter. And  the  higher  the  moral  altitude  attained,  the  more 
exquisitely  keen  are  the  soul's  distinctions  between  good  and 
evil. 

If  it  is  noble  to  resist  temptation,  it  is  infinitely  nobler  to 
be  above  temptation.  Milton's  angels  were  only  hj'pothetical 
angels.  If  real,  they  could  not  have  been  so  easily  tempted, 
through  pride,  to  fall.  Each  individual  is  responsible  to  the 
extent  of  his  intelligence,  mental  capacity,  and  moral  knowl- 
edge. 

All  moral  acts  pertain  to  the  mental  and  spiritual  nature, 
and  not  to  the  body,  except  medially.  The  amputated  foot 
does  not  kick.  It  is  not  the  fleshly  hand  that  steals.  No 
corpse  treads  on  forbidden  ground.  The  hand,  the  foot,  the 
body  —  these  are  only  the  implements  for  conscious  intelli- 
gence to  operate  through.  Without  this  intelligence  and 
moral  perception  of  law,  man  is  little  more  than  a  passive 
machine.  The  body,  then,  does  not  sin.  Constituted  of 
physical  elements,  it  can  know  nothing  of  moral  or  immoral 
acts.  And  death,  which  is  only  the  shedding  of  the  outer 
envelope,  in  no  way  affects  the  immortal  man.  It  is  not  a 
sponge,  that  cleans  the  slate  in  a  moment ;  not  a  sieve,  that, 
while  separating  the  chaff  from  the  wheat,  purifies  the  soul  ; 
not  a  moral  chemist,  that  so  manipulates  character  as  to  per- 
fect it  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  And  yet  death,  or  the 
conditions  to  which  death  introduces  the  individual,  offers 
better  and  higher  facilities  for  perpetual  progress. 

Human  beings  are  finite,  and  accordingly  all  moral  distinc- 
tions are  relative.  And  while  motives  and  circumstances, 
and  even  the  bodily  passions,  have  wide  fields  of  operation. 


66  IMMORTALITY. 

they  are  to  be  controlled  and  rigidly  subjected  to  the  reason 
and  higher  intuitions  of  tlie  moral  nature.  This  is  the 
struggle  —  the  clashing  battle-ground  of  life.  God  and  the 
good  angels  help  the  Christ  within  us  to  become  victor. 

Something  as  shadows  are  to  pictures,  so  are  imperfections 
to  human  nature  along  its  different  stages  of  develojiraent. 
Evil  is  incident  to  moral  freedom  and  moral  law.  The  apos- 
tolic assurance  that  Jesus  "  was  made  perfect  through  suffer- 
ing," has  been  construed  that  he  was  once  imperfect.  And  it 
has  often  been  contended  that  if  Jesus  as  a  Jew  had  not 
been  disobedient,  the  apostle  could  not  have  rationally  said 
that  he  "  learned  obedience  by  the  things  he  suffered."  Only 
then,  that  he  was,  as  the  Scriptures  teach,  our  "Elder 
Brother," —  a  "  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,"' 
—  could  he  have  felt  such  a  deep  sympathy  for  humanity. 

Kossuth  spoke  all  the  more  eloquently  in  behalf  of  liberty 
after  having  paced  the  cold  floors  of  an  Austrian  dungeon. 
Hampden's  persecutions  for  freedom  fired  his  soul  with  a 
deeper  love  for  justice  and  equality.  Gough  could  never 
have  spoken  with  the  burning  power  and  pathos  he  does  had 
he  not  staggered  and  suffered  under  the  poisoned  draught. 
Pain  is  a  masked  angel  pointing  to  the  door  of  obedience. 
And  so  evil,  through  sorrow  and  direst  suffering,  is  overruled 
for  good.  This  is  Optimism  —  that  rational  Optimism  which, 
seeing  afar  into  the  future,  is  calm  with  faith  and  holiest  trust. 

The  noblest  and  purest  souls  of  earth  are  ever  the  most 
charitable.  "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee,"  were  the  tender 
words  of  Jesus.  And  again,  "  I  came  not  to  condemn  the 
world,  but  to  save  the  world."  The  good  shepherd,  leaving 
the  ninety  and  nine,  searched  for  the  lost  sheep  until  he  had 
found  it.  The  robes  of  reformers  shine  the  brightest  when 
they  rustle  along  the  crowded  crypts  of  time.  Feet  pierced 
with  thorns  are  on  the  way  to  see  the  head  crowned  with 
roses.  Disappointments  and  trials,  rightly  considered,  and 
patiently  endured,  become  transfigured  into  higher  joys;  or,  by 
other  methods,  bloom  out  into  richest  blessings.  Tears,  shed 
over  the  sufferings  of  others,  crystallize  into  pearls.     Under 


18   IT   THE   SOUL   OR   THE   BODY   THAT   SINS  ?  57 

the  clouds  of  imperfection,  and  the  cankering  corruptions  of 
social  life,  there  lie  entombed  the  principles  that  reflect  the 
overshadowing  love  of  the  Infinite,  —  principles  that  brighten 
up  in  glad  response  to  that  sweet  sympathy  and  love  that 
angels  ever  know.  It  was  not  the  body,  but  the  soul  of  Mary 
Magdalena,  that  Jesus  so  admired  and  loved.  The  peerless 
words  of  the  Apostle  John  —  "  God  is  Love  "  —  will  live  for- 
ever! 

Appreciating  the  moral  grandeur  of  a  broad  religious  opti- 
mism, Alice  Carey  sung  one  of  the  sweetest  songs  of  her  soul. 

"  I  said  if  I  might  go  back  again 

To  the  very  hour  and  place  of  my  birth, 
Might  have  my  life  whatever  I  chose, 
And  live  it  in  any  part  of  the  earth ; 

Put  perfect  sunshine  into  my  sky, 

Banish  the  shadows  of  sorrow  and  doubt; 
Have  all  of  my  happiness  multiplied. 

And  all  of  my  suffering  stricken  out; 

If  I  could  have  known  in  the  yeai-a  now  gone 

The  best  that  a  mortal  comes  to  know : 
Could  have  had  whatever  will  make  man  blest, 

Or  whatever  he  thinks  will  make  him  so; 


Yea ;  I  said  if  a  miracle  such  as  this 
Could  be  wrought  for  me  at  my  bidding,  —  still 

I  would  choose  to  have  my  past  as  it  is, 
And  to  let  my  future  come  as  it  wUl. 

I  would  not  make  the  path  I  have  trod 
More  pleasant,  or  even  more  straight  or  wide; 

Nor  change  my  course  the  breadth  of  a  hair 
This  way  or  that  to  either  side. 

My  past  is  mine,  and  I  take  it  all,  — 

Its  weakness,  its  folly  if  you  please; 
Nay,  even  my  sius,  if  you  come  to  that, 

May  have  been  my  helps,  —  not  hindrances. 

So  let  my  past  stand  just  as  it  stands. 

And  let  me  now,  as  I  may,  grow  old ; 
I  am  what  I  am,  and  my  life  for  me 

Is  the  best  —  or,  it  had  not  been  —  I  hold." 

The  oak  remembers  not  each  leaf  it  bore ;   and  yet  each 
leaf  and  bough  and  brawny  limb  help  to  make  up  the  towering 


68  IMMORTALITY. 

tree.  Many  of  the  acts  and  minor  events  of  our  lives  have 
died  out,  or  cease  to  echo  in  the  memory  chambers  of  our 
souls  ;  still,  their  results  live  in  our  characters.  Let  them  be 
forgotten  I  It  is  not  wise  to  brood  over  the  broken  rounds  of 
the  ladder  our  feet  just  pressed.  The  summit  of  the  temple 
is  to  be  reached.  Direct  the  eye  upward,  and  press  forward 
towards  the  higher  altitudes  of  heavenly  truth  and  wisdom. 

The  toiling  seamstress  remembers  not  each  stitch  she  took 
in  the  garment;  and  yet,  every  stitch  helped  to  make  up  that 
garment ;  and  so  each  thought,  word,  purpose,  and  deed,  help 
to  make  up  the  real  life  of  the  soul ;  and  backward-looking 
memory,  tracing  the  effects,  may  —  ay,  must  construct  a 
mirror  before  which  we  shall  be  necessitated  to  stand,  face  to 
face  with  ourselves.  This  will  be  the  loosening  of  the  seals  — 
the  beginning  of  the  Judgment.  "  Go  unto  thy  own  place," 
will  be  the  self-pronounced  sentence  of  the  soul. 

Compensation  runs  like  a  silver  thread  through  the  uni- 
verse. Youth  affects  manhood.  The  deeds  of  manhood  be- 
cloud or  brighten  the  sunset  of  life.  We  weave  the  moral 
garments  in  this  life  that  shall  in  quality  clothe  us  when  en- 
tering the  future  state  of  existence. 

"  If  all  our  life  was  one  broad  glare 
Of  sunlight  clear,  unclouded, 
If  all  our  path  were  smooth  and  fair, 
By  no  deep  gloom  enshrouded ; 

If  all  life's  flowers  were  fully  blown 

Without  the  slow  unfolding. 
And  happiness  mayhap  was  thrown 

On  hands  too  weak  for  holding ; 

Then  we  should  miss  the  twilight  honn, 

The  intermingling  sadness. 
And  pray  perhaps  for  storms  and  showen 

To  break  the  constant  gladness. 

If  none  were  sick  and  none  were  sad. 

What  service  could  we  render  ? 
I  think  if  we  were  always  glad 

We  hardly  could  be  tender. 

Did  our  beloved  never  need 

Our  loving  ministration. 
Life  would  grow  cold,  and  misa 

Its  finest  consolation. 


IS  IT  THE  SOUL  OR   THE   BODY  THAT  SINa  ?  61 

If  sorrow  never  smote  the  heart. 

And  every  wish  were  granted. 
Then  faith  would  die,  and  hope  depart, 

And  life  be  disenchanted. 

And  if  in  heaven  is  no  more  night, 

In  heaven  no  more  sorrow. 
Such  nnimagined  pnre  delight 

Fresh  grace  from  pain  wUl  borrow. 

As  the  poor  seed  that  underground 

Seeks  its  true  life  above  it. 
Not  knowing  where  it  will  be  found 

When  sunbeams  touch  and  love  h,  — 

80  we  in  darkness  upward  grow, 

And  look  and  long  for  heaven ; 
Tct  cannot  reach  it  here  bebw, 

TQl  man  of  IJ^ht  be  girwL" 


61  nUiORTALlTT. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

CLOTHING   IN  THE   SPIRIT-WOKLD  —  ITS   OHARACTEB,    C7SE, 
AND   HOW  OBTAINED. 

"  Our  atmosphere  U  the  mantle  which  the  earth  folds  to  her  bosom  during  het  jearl^ 

journeys  around  the  sun.    Nature  is  the  garment  of  God.    Angels  are  vestured  in 

crj'stal  whiteness."  Filobim. 

"  I  see  Hermes,  unsuspected,  dying,  well-beloved,  saying  to  the  people, '  Do  not  weep 

for  me. 

This  is  not  my  true  country ;  I  have  lived  banished  from  my  trae  country  —  I  now 

go  back  there ; 
I  return  to  the  celestial  sphere,  where  eveiy  one  goes  in  his  turn.'"        Weitman 

Everything  in  the  universe,  so  far  as  we  know,  is  either 
clothed  upon,  or  clothes  itself.  "Every  mineral,  every  flower, 
every  animal,  every  human  being,  every  spirit,  every  object,  in- 
deed, in  the  universe,  from  the  sun  to  a  dew-drop,  has  a  pecul- 
iar atmosphere,  composed  of  infinitesimal  particles  emanating 
from  itself,  embodying  its  interior  nature,  and  proceeding  to  a 
certain  distance  around  it.  We  find  it  in  the  magnet,  by  its 
attraction ;  in  the  rose,  by  its  perfume  ;  in  man,  by  his  radiat- 
ing influences  of  all  kinds.  By  it  the  faithful  dog  tracks  his 
master  to  incredible  distances.  By  it  the  magnetized  person 
detects  the  character  of  another  by  the  glove  or  the  ring  he 
has  worn.  Every  social  circle,  every  church,  every  institu- 
tion, has  its  sphere."  The  heavens  have  their  sphere,  and  the 
hells  theirs.  The  sphere  of  an  object  is  its  natural  clothing. 
But  there  are  two  kinds  of  clothing,  the  one  natural,  the  other 
fashioned  by  intelligence  and  taste. 

Swedenborg,  by  far  the  greatest  seer  of  modern  times, 
Bays: 

"The  extrication  of  the  spirit  from  the  body  is  an  office  assigned  to  a  certain  order 
of  angels.     They  receive  souls  kindly,  and  introduce  them  to  their  new  sphere,  where 


CLOTHING   IN   THE  SPIRIT   WORLD.  61 

they  quickly  seek  out  those  with  whom  they  Lave  an  affinity."  ..."  I  have  fre- 
quently heard  new-comers  from  the  earth  rejoicing  at  meeting  their  friends  again,  and 
their  friends  rejoicing  at  their  arrival.  Husbands  and  wives  meet  and  continue  to- 
gether for  a  long  or  short  time,  according  to  their  mutual  affinity."  ..."  Very  many 
of  the  learned  from  the  earth  are  amazed  when  they  find  themselves  after  death  in 
houses,  in  bodies,  and  in  gai-ments  much  as  those  of  earth.".  .  .  "  Angels  appear 
clothed,  and  each  angel  in  vesture  corresponding  to  his  intelligence.  The  most  intelli- 
gent have  gai-raents  which  glitter  as  with  flame,  and  some  are  resplendent  as  witli 
light.  The  less  intelligent  have  garments  of  clear  or  opaque  white  without  splendor. 
The  still  less  intelligent  have  garments  of  various  colors."  .  .  .  *' The  garments  of  the 
angels  do  not  merely  appear  to  be  garments,  but  they  really  are  garments ;  for  they  not 
only  see,  but  feel  them,  and  have  many  changes  which  they  take  off  and  put  on,  laying 
aside  those  which  are  not  in  use,  and  resuming  them  when  they  come  into  use  again. 
That  they  are  clothed  with  a  variety  of  garments  I  have  seen  a  thousand  times." 

It  was  at  the  "  end  of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn 
towards  the  first  day  of  the  week,"  that  the  angel  appeared 
at  the  sepulchre,  "  clothed  in  a  long,  white  garment."  The 
frightened  women  hurried  away,  telling  their  friends  that  the 
risen  Jesus  had  met  them  saying,  "  All  hail  f  " 

"  And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  Heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  back  the 
Btonc,  and  sat  upon  it  ...  .  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  snow." 

Matthew  xxviii.  2, 3. 

"  And  when  they  looked,  they  saw  that  the  stone  was  rolled  away.  And  they  saw  ■ 
young  man  sitting  on  the  right  side,  clothed  in  a  long  white  garment." 

Mark  xvi.  4,  5. 

While  one  of  the  evangelists  denominates  the  spirit  who 
appeared  at  the  sepulchre  an  angel,  and  the  other  a.  young  man, 
they  both  agree  in  pronouncing  the  garment  "white."  Luke, 
in  sj)eaking  of  the  clothing,  says  it  was  "shining." 

Upon  that  Syrian  mount  when  Moses  and  Elias  appeared 
and  "  talked  with  Jesus,"  the  evangelist  says  he  was  trans- 
figured before  them  .  .  .  and  "  his  raiment  was  white  as  the 
light."  (Matt.  xvii.  2,  8.) 

John,  the  Patraos  seer,  tells  us  that,  when  a  door  was 
opened  to  him  in  Heaven,  he  saw  on  one  occasion  "seven 
angels,"  coming  out  of  the  temple,  "clothed  in  pure  white 
linen,  and  having  their  breasts  girded  with  golden  girdles." 
(Rev.  XV.  6.)  Being  in  the  spirit  on  the  '•  Lord's  day,"  he  saw 
"  armies  of  angels,  clothed  in  fine  linen,  white  and  clean ; " 
and  again,  he  beheld  "  a  great  multitude,  which  no  man  could 
number,  of  all  nations,  and  kindreds,  and  people,  and  tongues 


62  EVIMORTALITT. 

....  clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands." 
In  the  first  chapter  of  Acts,  a  spirit-manifestation  to  the  dis- 
ciples is  described  as  "  two  men  who  stood  by  them  in  white 
apparel."  In  tlie  Revelation  it  is  said :  "  He  that  overcometh 
shall  be  clothed  in  white  raiment."  How  blessed  the  thought ! 
clothed  in  "  white  robes  "  —  in  '*  raiment  white  as  snow  "  —  in 
"shining  garments  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun  !  "  While 
all  are  clothed  in  tlie  spirit-world,  only  those  are  clothed  in 
crystal  whiteness  that  have  "  overcome  "  —  overcome  their  per- 
versions, their  passions,  and  their  earthly  appetites,  in  the 
sense  of  training  and  subordinating  them  to  divine  uses. 
Clothing  in  the  future  world  corresponds  to  character. 

Many  of  the  proud  and  costly  attired  of  earth  will  find 
themselves  so  spiritually  nude  and  poor  in  the  world  of  spirits, 
that  they  will  feel  to  compare  their  vestures  to  filthy  rags. 

"  And,  oh !  in  that  future  and  lovelier  sphere, 
Where  all  is  made  right  which  so  puzzles  us  here ; 
Where  the  glare  aud  the  glitter  and  tinsel  of  Time 
Shall  fade  in  the  light  of  that  region  sublime, 
Where  the  soul,  disenchanted  of  flesh  and  of  sense, 
Unscreened  by  its  trappings,  and  shows,  and  pretense, 
Must  be  clothed  for  the  life  and  the  service  above. 
With  purity,  truthfulness,  meekness,  and  love. 
Oh,  daughters  of  earth !  foolish  virgins,  beware ! 
Lest  in  that  upper  realm  you  have  nothing  to  wear!" 

As  the  loving,  waiting  mother  provides  the  softest  and  most 
delicate  garments  for  the  expectant  infant,  so  tender  mater- 
nal angels  and  guardian  spirits,  expecting  and  watching  foi 
the  resurrection  of  spirits  from,  or  out  of,  their  physical  bodies, 
have  already  prepared  the  gossamer  garments  for  the  loved 
ones  born  again.  Through  death  comes  the  second  —  the  real 
new  birth ! 

In  shape  and  appearance,  spiritual  vestures  commonly  cor- 
respond to  the  spirit's  taste  and  custom  when  upon  earth. 
The  Quaker  wears  at  first  the  plain  dress;  the  Roman,  the 
toga;  the  Oriental,  the  graceful  robe.  But  in  ethereality  of 
texture,  garments  correspond  to  the  moral  status  of  indi- 
viduals. 


OLOTHLNQ  IN  THE  SPIRIT   WORLD.  ^6 

The  first  garments  worn  in  spirit-life  are  gifts  of  love.  It 
is  so  with  infants  on  earth ;  but  reaching  their  full  stature, 
each  and  all  provide  their  own  clothing.  In  the  higher  heav- 
ens, robes  and  angel  vestures  are  woven  by  will-power  through 
skillful  hands,  and  woven  almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 
It  may  almost  be  said  that  glistening  robes  of  glory  come  to 
angels  as  leaves  come  to  the  trees  in  spring-time,  or  as  gorgeous 
colors  come  to  evening  clouds.  As  the  raiments  of  the  heav- 
enly inhabitants  correspond  in  quality  to  their  interior  states, 
they  change  according  to  their  unfoldment,  and  also  with 
their  rank  and  position.  The  robes  of  the  archangels  are  so 
bright  that  they  literally  flame  in  matchless  splendor  I 

The  great  seer  of  Sweden,  after  describing  the  magnificent 
attire  of  spirits  and  angels,  says : 

"  I  have  be»n  with  the  angels  in  their  habitations.  They  are  exactly  like  our  houses 
upon  earth,  but  mo«e  beautiful.  They  contain  chambers,  drawing-rooms,  and  bed- 
rooms in  great  numbers.  They  have  couils,  and  are  encompassed  by  gardens,  flower- 
beds, and  fields." 

"  Where  the  angels  live  in  societies,  the  habitations  are  contiguous,  and  arranged  in 
the  form  of  a  city,  with  courts,  streets,  and  squares  exactly  like  the  cities  on  our  earth. 
It  has  also  been  granted  me  to  walk  through  tlicm,  and  to  look  about  on  all  sides. 
This  occurred  to  me  wh«n  wide  awake,  my  interior  sight  being  open  at  the  time." 

"  I  have  seen  palaces  in  heaven  so  magnificent  as  to  sui-pass  all  description.  Some 
were  more  splendid  than  others.  The  inside  was  in  keeping  with  the  outside.  The 
apartments  were  oruameoted  with  such  decorations  that  no  language  is  adequate  to 
the  description  of  them." 

Our  good  deeds,  our  self-sacrificing  lives  construct  our  par- 
adises, decorate  our  future  homes ;  beautify  our  lawns,  make 
the  stars  more  visible,  the  winds  more  musical,  and  our  im- 
mortal clothing  more  bright  and  shimmering.  Be  ye  also 
ready. 

"  The  tissue  of  the  life  to  be 

We  weave  with  colors  all  our  own, 
And  in  the  field  of  dastiny 
We  reap  as  we  have  sown. 

Still  shall  the  soul  around  it  call 

The  shadows  which  it  gathered  here, 
And,  painted  on  the  eternal  wall, 

The  past  shall  reappear."  WxrimK 


64  IMMOUTALITT. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

LOCOMOTION  IN  THE  WORLD  OF  SPIRITS.  —  HOW  AND  WH? 
SPIRITS  CONNECTED  WITH  THEIR  MORTAL  BODIES,  TEM- 
PORARILY LEAVE  THEM. 

•'  I  knew  a  man  in  Clirist,  above  fourteen  years  ago ;  whether  in  the  body  or  out  ol 
the  body  I  cannot  tell.  God  knoweth;  such  an  one  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven. 
And  I  knew  such  a  man ;  how  that  he  was  caught  up  into  Paradise,  and  heard  un- 
speakable words,  which  it  is  not  lawful  for  a  man  to  utter."  2  CoR.  xii.  2-4. 

"  I  am  now  leaving  my  body  four  hours  each  night,  and  listening  to  medical  lectures 
in  one  of  the  most  magnificent  pavilions  that  stud  the  spirit  world.  I  also  have  a  class 
that  I  am  teaching  in  a  sphere  below  the  one  in  which  I  am  a  pupil." 

Dr.  A.  P.  PiKBCE. 

Souls  build  the  bodies  they  inhabit.  The  will  moves 
them.     Intelligent  motion  implies  mind. 

The  soul,  a  conscious  entity,  related  to  the  infinite  Soul, 
God,  somewhat  as  spark  to  flame,  is  the  mechanic,  the  spir- 
itual form  with  its  nerve-forces  is  the  machinery,  and  the 
physical  body  the  external  building  that  covers  mechanic  and 
machinery.  And  why  should  not  the  thinking,  conscious 
mechanic  occasionally  step  out  of  his  building  for  specific 
purposes,  leaving,  of  course,  every  door  and  avenue  well 
guarded  ? 

Accompanied  recently  by  Mrs.  Taylor,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
a  personal  friend  of  Miss  Fancher,  the  psychological  wonder, 
I  was  permitted  to  visit  and  enjoy  a  most  interesting  conver- 
sation  with  this  young  lady,  who  virtually  subsists  without 
food,  and  enjoys  sleep  only  when  in  the  trance  state.  During 
the  interview  she  spoke  freely,  not  only  of  her  sensitiveness, 
her  trances  and  visions,  "but,"  said  she,  "  I  sometimes  leave 
my  body  and  go  away,  —  oh,  so  far  away !  —  meeting  my 
mother  and  other  dear  friends,  with  scenery  too  beautiful  to 
describe.     I  traverse  fields,  and  walk  in  gardens  of  flowers 


LOCOMOTION  IN   THE   WORLD   OF   SPIRITS.  66 

and  fountains,  and  I  listen  to  the  most  heavenly  musvc 
You  cannot  think  how  it  rests  me ;  and  I  feel  so  sad  when  J 
am  asked  to  return  again  to  my  earthly  home." 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  in  my  mind  that,  while  humar? 
bodies  are  in  a  comatose  condition  analogous  to  death,  only 
that  the  magnetic  life-thread  is  not  severed,  souls  leave  their 
bodies,  and,  accompanied  by  guardian  angels,  traverse  the 
spirit  spheres  of  infinity.  My  belief  in  this  phenomenon  rests 
upon  the  following  testimony : 

I.  Individual  experience.  I  know  many  substantial,  clear- 
headed persons  who  aflBira  in  the  most  positive  manner  that 
they  have  been  temporarily  released  from  their  physical  bod- 
ies ;  that  they  were  at  the  time  conscious  of  Lei;:*,  in  this 
freed  condition  ;  that  they  saw  the  bodies  they  ^ad  left 
saw  the  silvery  electric  cord  still  connecting  them  with  their 
bodies  ;  saw  spirit  friends  whom  they  had  known  on  earth  ; 
visited  the  supernal  home  of  these  friends  ;  and  were  con- 
^.'ious  of  reasoning  about  returning  and  re-entenng  their 
.^odies. 

II.  Spirits,  the  more  wise  and  exalted,  controlling  me- 
diums unconsciously,  have  repeatedly  informed  me  that  in 
consequence  of  a  peculiar  organization,  coupled  with  wisely- 
directed  magnetic  preparations  on  the  part  of  spirit  guides, 
certain  persons  may  and  do  leave  their  bodies  temporarily, 
traveling  both  in  the  hells  and  the  higher  table-lands  of  im- 
mortality. 

III.  Independent  clairvoyants,  while  in  their  superior  con- 
ditions, have  frequently  seen  individuals  of  earth  in  the  world 
of  spirits,  yet  sympathetically  connected  with  their  bodies  by 
this  magnetic  life-cord.  Whenever  this  is  severed,  death  fol- 
lows. The  physical  body  is  raised  only  in  the  sense  of  reap- 
pearing in  grasses,  grains,  and  forest-trees. 

Filling  a  lecture  engagement  in  Troy,  N.  Y.,  a  few  years 
since,  I  went  down  to  the  hospitable  home  of  Dr.  G.  L.  Dit- 
son,  Albany,  to  see  Dr.  E.  C.  Dunn.  It  is  a  cosy,  comfortabl-? 
place  to  visit.  Retiring  to  our  apartment  for  the  night,  D*:. 
Dunn,  as  usual,  was  entranced.  The  subject  of  conversatioB 
6 


66  IMMORTALITY. 

was  the  inter-relations  of  body,  spirit,  and  soul.  Aware  that 
the  doctor  had  not  been  in  my  apartment  in  Troy  since  occupy- 
ing it,  I  said,  when  leaving  in  the  morning,  '''■Gome  as  a  spirit 
to  Troy  to-night^  and  write  me  to-morrow  lohat  you  see  in  my 
room^ 

"  Most  certainly,"  was  the  prompt  reply,  "  if  my  spirit 
guides  will  help  me.*'  The  next  evening  I  received  a  letter 
describing  my  room  at  Mr.  McCoy's,  the  locality  of  the  bed, 
the  furniture,  the  books,  the  pencils,  the  open  Bible,  &c., 
closing  with  these  words : 

"  I  took  especial  notice  of  my  body,  after  leaving  it,  as  it  lay  in  bed  at  Albany.  A 
•art  of  the  circle  guarded  it.  I  had  a  very  pleasant  time  with  Aaron  Knight,  who 
•cted  aa  my  guide  while  absent  from  the  body.  The  sensations  were  all  pleasant  ex- 
sept  the  terrible  dread  which  always  comes  over  me  when  returning  to  my  body." 

The  description  of  the  room,  the  books,  garments,  pictures, 
open  Bible  with  photograph  in  it,  and  other  objects  in  my 
apartment,  could  hardly  have  been  described  with  greater 
precision.  Similar  visits  of  exploration,  and  traveling  out  of 
and  away  from  the  physical  organism,  have  been  of  frequent 
occurrence,  giving  unmistakable  evidence  to  my  mind  that 
the  doctor,  as  he  positively  asserts,  was  absent  from  his  body. 

Prophets  and  apostles  of  old  had  analogous  experiences. 
Paul,  when  caught  up  to  the  third  heaven,  did  not  know 
whether  he  was  in  the  body  or  out.  Plotinus,  more  philo- 
sophical than  Paul,  knew  when  he  was  out  of  the  body,  and 
returning  to  it,  remembered  who  of  the  Platonic  teachers  he 
had  met  while  traversing  the  higher  spheres.  Many  mediums 
and  seers  have  had  similar  experiences  to  those  above  named. 
And  so  the  marvels  of  history  repeat  themselves. 

"  I  am  now  going  away,"  are  the  opening  words  of  our 
seer.*  "  Am  now  crossing  the  river  I  have  seen  before.  Oh,  if 
mortals  only  knew  I  they  would  not  care  for  the  voyage ;  they 
would  only  care  for  what  they  should  carry  with  them. 

"  I  am  now  passing  through  a  somewhat  extended  darkness; 

•  Several  of  the  following  pages  are  from  an  unpublished  volume  (1878)  entitled, 
"  The  Beyond ;  or,  Symbolic  Teachings  £-om  the  Higher  Life."  Edited  by  Hennas 
Snow 


LOCOMOTION  IN  THE   WORLD   OP  SPIRITS.  61 

but  do  not  feel  troubled,  for  I  am  coubcious  that  friendly  sup- 
porters are  near  at  hand.  Now  I  see  strangely-shaped  build- 
ings. They  seem  to  have  no  foundations.  I  think  they  must 
fall,  so  patched  and  poorly  braced  are  they  in  their  lower 
parts.  They  are  the  homes,  I  am  told,  of  those  who  on  earth 
were  unfortunately  cursed  with  excessive  self-esteem.  One 
of  these  now  stands  before  me.  He  seems  beginning  to  be 
conscious  of  his  mistake  and  to  long  for  its  correction.  And 
this  ungainlj'-shaped  and  tottering  building  which  now  serves 
as  his  abode,  is  made  unto  him  a  daguerreotype,  as  it  were,  of 
his  actual  character ;  and  thus  he  is  able  to  study  its  defects 
and  gradually  through  effort  and  persistent  struggle  to  bring 
his  spirit-home — ever  a  reflex  of  character  —  into  shapes  of 
order  and  beauty.  *  I  am  glad,'  I  said  to  him,  'to  see  you  go 
to  work  so  earnestly  and  wisely.  Will  you  let  me  come  and 
see  the  inside  when  you  have  got  your  house  in  order  ? '  I  re- 
ceived no  reply. 

"  Now  I  see  a  spirit  who  does  not  seem  to  care  for  a  home. 
He  is  satisfied  to  lie  down  and  lazily  go  into  a  stupid  sleep. 
But  see !  a  thunderbolt  seems  to  strike  him ;  and  he  is  aroused 
into  mute  amazement,  while  a  voice  exclaims,  '  TFe  have  no 
idlers  here!  He  seems  to  think  this  rather  hard,  as  he  had 
never  succeeded  in  having  much  of  such  lazy  comfort  while 
on  earth,  and  thought  he  might  now  have  his  fill  undisturbed. 
But  lie  is  told  by  spirits  that  only  action,  and  much  of  it  for 
others,  can  give  him  real  comfort !  And  so  finally  he  is  in- 
duced to  make  an  effort  to  help  some  who  are  lower  than  him- 
self, when  —  lo  !  a  new  consciousness  begins  to  awaken  within 
him ;  and  he  not  only  gains  the  peace  of  self-approval,  but 
finds  also  that  the  very  effort  made  tends  to  remove  the  mor- 
bid accumulation  of  crude  magnetism  with  which  he  was 
laden,  and  thus  to  make  other  efforts  easy  and  pleasant.  .  .  . 

"  I  now  find  myself  in  an  assembly  of  teachers  and  pujiils; 
and  here  I  am  allowed  to  witness  the  methods  of  instruc- 
tion in  spirit-life.  Old  and  young  I  see  occupying  the  same 
classes,  and,  strange  to  say,  those  of  the  same  average  ahility^ 
who  have  not  had  what  is  called  an  education  on  the  earth. 


68  IMMORTALITY. 

here  promise  the  most  rapid  progress.  The  reason  is  that  the 
others  have  many  errors  to  unlearn  before  they  are  prepared 
to  see  and  acknowledge  the  new  truths ;  for  here,  truths  are 
clearly  seen  by  the  more  intuitive-minded.  For  it  is  not 
theories  concerning  truths,  but  the  truths  themselves,  that  are 
here  set  before  the  pupils.  The  method  is  more  like  what  we 
of  earth  call  '  object  teaching '  than  any  other  system  of  our 
instruction. 

"A  conspicuous  example  of  the  false  method  of  earth 
now  stands  out  before  me  in  the  person  of  a  self-conceited 
teacher,  recently  from  her  earthly  labors.  She  does  not  seem 
at  all  to  like  the  methods  here  pursued,  and  is  quite  free  to 
criticise  what  is  going  on.  She  is  not  yet  ready  to  take  her 
proper  position  among  the  pupils,  but  expatiates  quite  freely 
on  the  worth  of  the  old  methods  of  her  earthly  life.  The 
spirit-teacher  does  not  seem  to  be  in  the  least  troubled  or  dis- 
couraged at  the  blindness  and  perversity  of  this  self-opinion- 
ated novitiate;  but  rather  encourages  her  to  go  on  and  expose 
the  shallowness  of  her  mental  condition,  which  is  soon  seen 
by  all,  bat  particularly  by  a  bright  and  beautiful  boy  of  not 
more  than  fourteen  years  of  age,  who  can  hardly  restrain  him- 
self from  prematurely  setting  her  right. 

"  At  length,  the  spirit-teacher  gives  her  what  seems  to  be  a 
delicate  spray  of  fern-leaf,  wlien  to  her  opening  vision  there 
appear  to  be  beauties  and  marks  of  wisdom  in  it  that  no  book 
of  botany  ever  named  ;  and  she  begins  to  see  and  acknowledge 
the  superiority  of  this  method  over  the  one  heretofore  so 
ficnaly  fixed  in  her  mind.  Other  similar  experiments  follow, 
until  at  length  she  is  fairly  transformed  into  a  promising  pupil 
of  the  spirit-instructor,  at  which  the  bright  minded  boy  ap- 
pears especially  to  rejoice,  —  in  sympathy,  however,  not  in 
triumph. 

"I  leave  now,"  said  the  seer,  "and  go  again."  .  .  .  "  O  the 
water,  how  pure  and  peaceful  it  looks  1  as  it  gurgles  along  in 
its  course.  It  seems  to  speak  of  contentment,  purity,  and  joy. 
And  the  modest  and  lovely  flowers  I  see  along  its  banks ;  and 
the  leafy  shrubs ;    and  the  tapering  trees  with   their  spiral 


t.OCOMOTION    IN   THE   WORLD   OF   SPIRITS.  69 

leaves  p(jinting  upward  as  if  in  conscious  gvatitiide  to  the 
Giver  of  life  —  all  these  leaflets  and  flowers,  all  living  things 
here,  turji  themselves  steadily  and  earnestly  to  the  light  I 
Should  it  be  less  so  wiJi  man ;  should  he  of  all  else  seek  the 
way  of  darkness  rather  than  of  the  light?  I  now  meet  three 
weary  travelers.  They  are  toiling  on  beneath  burdens,  not 
of  things  of  value,  not  of  choice  gems  of  truth  and  beauty ; 
but  of  the  dry  sticks  of  a  worn-out  theology  which  was  fast- 
ened upon  them  by  an  unprincipled  and  arbitrary  priestly  rule 
while  they  were  yet  in  the  earth-life.  True  men  were  these, 
even  in  their  darkened  earthly  condition ;  for  they  saw  not 
the  iniquity  of  the  power  that  held  them  in  blind  and  slavish 
submission.  They  worked  faithfully  and  self-saerificingly  to 
carry  out  the  designs  of  those,  who,  though  ever  ready  to  im- 
pose heavy  burdens  upon  others,  would  hardly  lift  a  finger  to 
do  the  work  themselves.  And  now  I  see  that  one  of  these 
pilgrims  begins  to  awaken  to  a  sense  of  the  folly  of  his  course 
in  thus  continuing  to  bear  his  wearying  and  worthless  burden 
when  the  higher  and  clearer  light  of  the  spirit-world  is  around 
him.  He  feels  the  inspiration  of  high  and  noble  spirits  not 
far  from  him,  and  thus  urged  on,  he  throws  off  his  grievous 
burden,  and  stands  up  a  free  and  happy  soul !  The  others, 
incited  by  his  example  and  by  the  inspiring  power  which  they 
also  feel,  do  likewise. 

"  And  now,  the  same  active  zeal  which  was  once  used  to 
uphold  the  rule  of  a  false  and  corrupt  system,  is  turned  with 
all  its  force  to  overthrow  the  falsities  that  once  so  oppressed 
them.  In  their  invisible  forms  they  revisit  old  confessionals, 
and  whisper  to  presiding  priests  of  the  lives  they  are  leading, 
and  of  the  terrible  penalties  of  their  oppressions.  They  even 
penetrate  to  the  head-center  of  ecclesiastical  power,  and  make 
their  searching  whispers  heard  by  him  who  sits  upon  the 
Papal  throne  itself. 

"  It  was  a  martyr's  life  these  sincere  men  lived  upon  earth ; 
and  it  is  a  martyr's  crown  they  are  now  receiving  in  doing 
their  telling  work  of  undermining  the  false  and  upbuilding 
the  true  in  the  lands  of  theii-  former  toils  and  sufferings." 


'^0  IMMORTALIT*. 

Spirits  occupying  the  same  sphere  of  sympathy  and  unfold- 
ment  in  the  spirit- world,  travel  with  the  velocity  of  thought. 
Especially  is  this  true  after  they  come  to  understand  the  fluids 
and  psychic  forces  of  spirit-life;  but  to  advance  from  one 
person  to  another  who  is  higher,  from  one  society  to  another, 
from  one  zone  of  existence  to  another  more  beatific,  there 
must  be  preparation,  interior  changes  in  the  state  of  the  mind, 
and  corresponding  progressions  and  etherealizations  of  the 
spiritual  body. 

There  continues  to  reside  in  Boston,  Mass.,  Dr.  A.  P.  Pierce, 
I'.aving  still,  as  in  the  past,  an  extensive  medical  practice  in 
what  is  denominated  the  "  higher  circles  "  of  society.  While 
his  healing  gifts  are  truly  wonderful,  his  trance  experiences, 
connected  with  his  travels  in  the  different  societies  and  spheres 
of  spirit-life,  are  among  the  most  marvelous  in  history. 

The  most  remarkable  of  his  trances  commenced  on  the 
27th  day  of  November,  1856.  This  continued  twenty-one  days, 
during  which  time  he  was  out  of  his  body.  Previous  to  this, 
and  while  under  spirit-influence,  he  foretold  the  hour  when 
the  entrancement  would  commence.  At  8  o'clock,  the  time 
appointed,  he  felt  a  heavy  pressure  over  the  eyes,  and  re- 
quested that  some  friends  be  invited  to  witness  the  change 
necessarily  occasioned  by  the  departure  of  the  spirit  from  the 
body.  The  guests  now  present,  some  fifteen  or  more  in  num- 
ber, he  knelt  down  and  prayed  to  God  that  the  "  cup  might 
pass."  And  while  in  the  act  of  prayer  he  fell  into  a  trance. 
His  face  brightened  up ;  his  body  became  rigid  as  though 
dead  ;  and  in  this  condition  he  fell  upon  the  floor.  The  con- 
trolling intelligence  now  said  that  he  and  "  others  had  taken 
the  body  in  charge,  and  would  give  instructions  from  day  to 
day  as  to  its  management." 

During  the  time  of  Dr.  Pierce's  absence  from  the  body, 
several  different  spirits  possessed,  or  controlled  it ;  which  spirits, 
owing  to  their  magnetic  connection  with  the  body  and  their 
sympathetic  relations  with  Dr.  Pierce  temporarily  in  spirit-life, 
served  as  mediums  to  describe  the  doctor's  experiences  in  the 
various  societies  and  spheres  through  which  he  passed. 


LOCOMOTION   IN  THE   WORLD   OF   SPIBITS.  71 

Ist  Sphere.  —  "There  are  here  many  circles  and  conditions, 
ft  seems  dark  and  gloomy.  Spirits  are  as  low  as  the  very 
lowest  in  the  body.  They  dispute,  wrangle,  and  have  all  the 
passions  they  had  on  earth.  Some  return  to  their  old  asso- 
ciates, and  re-enact  the  scenes  of  earth.  Some  remain  here  a 
very  long  period  of  time  before  light  reaches  them.  It  is  ter- 
rible to  contemplate." 

2d  Sphere.  —  Entering  this,  the  doctor's  spirit  took  on 
new  conditions.  The  atmosphere  was  more  rarefied,  the  ele- 
ments more  ethereal.  Appearances  corresponded  largely  to 
the  better  conditions  of  earth.  He  saw  •*  spirits  preparing 
spiritual  food  from  spiritual  elements  and  auras."  Those  in 
the  higher  circles  of  this  sphere  were  instructing  the  lower. 
Most  of  the  objects  seemed  natural  yet  new. 

Sd  Sphere.  —  Passing  into  this  condition,  or  zone  of  spirit- 
existence,  he  beheld  spirits  entering  from  the  mortal  state  to 
receive  the  welcome  and  the  care  of  those  who  had  passed 
from  the  earthly  life  before  them.  They  seemed  to  class 
themselves  according  to  the  laws  of  affinity.  He  saw  them 
engaged  in  mental  telegraphing,  studying  the  principles  of 
chemistry,  and  in  various  ways  adorning  their  habitations. 
Here  were  animals  of  the  higher  order,  and  birds,  as  well  as 
Indian  hunting-grounds  and  attractive  lodges. 

4ith  Sphere.  —  In  this  sphere  the  garments  of  the  spirits 
seemed  brighter  and  of  a  much  finer  texture.  Instead  of 
being  in  isolated  homes,  they  lived  in  groups  and  associations. 
Spirits  from  the  fifth  and  sixth  spheres  teach  them.  "  I  see 
birds,  flowers,  and  a  lemon-shaped  fruit,  rich  and  juicy.  I  do 
not  know  its  name.  I  see  these  spirit-people  constructing 
musical  instruments,  and  trying  to  control  the  elements  for 
various  purposes.  All  are  industrious.  They  have  extensive 
grounds  well  laid  out,  tastefully  arranged  buildings,  in  a  room 
of  one  of  which  were  nicely  arranged  paintings  on  the  walls, 
and  flowers  neatl}'-  placed  around  the  windows ;  the  furniture 
is  soft  and  pliable,  and  constructed  by  a  combination  of  the 
elements ;  lakes  on  which  the  swan  gracefully  moves  to  and 
fro.     They  propose  to  change  spheres  by  going  through  three 


72  IMMORTALITY. 

degrees  of  education,  receiving  their  instruction  from  spirits  of 
the  sixth  sphere.  The  Indians  have  also  their  lodges  here. 
Their  food  is  like  that  in  the  other  circles,  growing  on  vines 
>vhich  trail  along  the  ground.  For  musical  instruments  the 
harp  is  used,  to  which  they  dance  and  sing,  and  are  very 
happy  —  far  more  so  than  in  the  circles." 

bth  Sphere.  —  Here  "  the  light  is  still  brighter,  and  the 
spirits  seem  more  calm,  serene,  and  self-balanced.  They  have 
walks  tastefully  arranged  around  their  dwellings,  with  flower- 
beds, groves  and  lawns  with  shiide-trees ;  lakes  much  larger 
than  those  in  the  fourth  sphere,  with  boats  of  corresponding 
size  playing  backwards  and  forwards.  They  have  places 
where  they  congregate  to  study  the  fine  arts,  and  colleges  for 
astronomy  and  mathematics ;  also  schools  for  instruction  in 
mechanical  arts  and  spirit-agriculture.  The  fruit  grows  on 
delicate  bushes,  something  like  the  pear.  These  inhabitants 
are  clear  in  their  expression  of  spirit  understanding.  They 
vocalize  and  play  upon  musical  instruments,  and  are  joyous 
and  very  happy. 

"  Their  clothing  is  very  light  and  spiritual.  In  the  fourth 
circle  of  this  sphere  the  light  is  like  the  setting  sun  to  your 
earth,  very  genial  and  bright.  Here  are  mountains  and  rivers 
made  attractive  by  beautiful  scenery.  The  spirits  have  labo- 
ratories and  factories  for  purifying  and  clearing  the  elements; 
lakes  with  vessels,  and  ponds  with  boats  on  them,  as  well  as 
wild  geese  and  ducks,  but  they  are  more  refined  than  those 
upon  the  earth.  On  the  margin  of  a  lake  is  an  Indian  en- 
campment. Here  I  meet  the  spirits  of  three  Indians,  who 
greet  me  and  invite  me  to  visit  their  lodges,  where  they  have 
a  talk  about  the  pale-face  Pierce,  whom  they  knew  on  the 
earth. 

"  The  houses  of  these  spiritual  inhabitants  are  symmetrical 
and  tastefully  arranged  inside,  with  paintings,  drawings,  and 
fine  furniture,  which  are  tangible  to  the  spirit;  the  pianoforte 
is  also  here,  upon  which  they  play,  accompanied  by  singing 
and  dancing,  which  constitutes  a  part  of  their  spiritual  enjoy- 
ment, and  is  done  to  the  honor  and  glory  of  God.     They  have 


LOCOMOTION   IN  THE   WORLD  OF   SPIEITS.  73 

walks  adorned  with  shade  trees,  on  which  are  richly-plumaged 
birds  singing  their  lays,  making  the  elements  vocal  with  sweet 
music;  their  fruit  grows  in  arbors  and  bowers,  and  is  shaped 
like  the  apple,  but  more  delicious  to  the  taste  and  strengthen- 
ing to  the  unfolding  spirit  as  it  is  passing  on  to  the  higher 
circles  of  progression  in  knowledge.  I  meet  with  one  of  my 
friends  whom  I  knew  on  earth,  John  S.  Oilman.  They  con- 
verse of  earth-life  and  spirit-life,  showing  that  memory,  like 
pure  love,  is  immortal." 

Qth  Sphere.  —  Do  not  understand  that  these  spheres  are  ab- 
solutely separated  the  one  from  the  other.  They  interblend, 
and  shade  off  into  each  other,  something  as  do  rainbow  hues. 
In  the  "  first  circle  of  this  sphere,  light  dawns  with  great  bril- 
liancy. Here  I  saw  a  magnilicent  observatory.  Newton  was 
teaching.  They  have  rivers,  extensive  plains,  and  lakes  clear 
as  crystal.  They  are  building  boats  of  a  singular  structure. 
They  have  scientific  institutions  for  designs  and  new  inven- 
tions, all  of  which,  when  perfected,  are  to  be  impressed  upon 
the  minds  of  the  sensitives  of  earth,  and  then  outwrought 
into  practical  use.  The  avenues  are  laid  out  with  shade-trees 
for  walking. 

"  The  climate  and  influences  are  more  congenial  to  the  spirit. 
They  have  gardens  arranged  with  choicest  fruit-trees.  The 
apple,  pear,  apricot,  and  fruit  such  as  I  had  never  seen,  are 
beautiful  and  spiritual.  They  arrange  their  houses  in  groups, 
and  have  a  kind  of  raih'oad  to  go  from  one  group  to  the  other. 
They  are  very  refined  in  their  manners,  very  loving  and  affec- 
tionate. 

"  In  the  third  circle  of  this  sphere  the  spirits  have  vast 
educational  places  for  assembling  together,  in  one  of  which  is 
the  Poet's  Hall,  where  the  lisen  poets  of  earth  are  preparing 
poetical  versions  of  the  heavens.  They  have  plain  yet  ele- 
gant churches  for  spiritual  culture.  Whitfield  is  preaching 
to  them  upon  the  necessity  of  spiritual  purity  and  perfection. 
They  have  here  observatories.  Herschel  is  teaching,  and 
other  noted  astronomers  have  classes.  Here  also  they  are 
traversing  the  ether  spaces  in  aerial  cars,  which  will  ulti 


u 


IMMORTALITY. 


mately  descend  to  earth.  I  see  many  fountains  around  theii 
houses,  and  flowers  too  beautiful  for  description.  The  food, 
exceedingly  ethereal,  is  nutritious  to  the  spiritual  body. 
They  have  spiritual  mansions,  where  spirits  meet  in  sacred 
fellowship.  I  entered  one,  where  I  was  received  in  fellow- 
ship. These  spirits  are  very  congenial  to  each  other,  and 
happy. 

''  In  the  '  higher  circles  of  this  sj^iere  light  dawns  in  brighter 
effulgence.'  The  spirits  have  large  colleges  to  receive  youth- 
ful minds  as  they  come  from  earth,  where  sportive  children  are 
instructed  in  the  higher  truths  of  the  heavenly  life.  Here  also 
is  a  magnificent  music  hall ;  Mrs.  Hemans,  Hannah  More,  and 
others  are  here,  rehearsing  the  lyrics  of  the  heavens.  Here  too 
are  colleges  for  preparing  teachers  to  come  to  earth  to  instruct 
and  inspire  mortals.  William  Peun,  Roger  Williams,  and 
others,  are  here  teaching.  Youthful  minds  are  their  students. 
Also  a  university  of  music,  where  it  is  taught  in  its  various 
methods.  Places  of  worship  for  the  adoration  of  God.  Mil- 
ton and  others  are  here  teaching,  and  they  are  also  teachers 
of  earth.  Here,  in  amazement,  I  beheld  the  higher  birth  of 
several  young  spirits  out  of  their  earthly  bodies.  They  were 
received  with  singing  and  words  of  welcome  to  their  new 
home.  The  scenery  is  beautiful,  with  sloping  hills  and  undu- 
lating plains.  Flowers  in  rich  abundance  perfume  the  air, 
and  warbling  birds  commingle  their  music  with  the  spirits. 
Their  houses  are  laid  out  in  large  circles,  twelve  houses  in  a 
circle,  with  walks  and  grounds  around  them,  with  trees  and 
shrubbery ;  various  kinds  of  fruit  are  grown  for  their  own 
nourishment;  joy  and  harmony  pervade  everywhere.  As  they 
live  in  higher  scenes  or  conditions,  they  are  consequently  the 
more  higlily  spiritualized.  Here  the  Indians  have  homes  on 
one  side  of  the  river-bank,  unique,  yet  beautiful.  Luna,  an 
Indian  girl,  Pocahontas,  and  others,  are  here  happy  and  joy- 
ous, all  commingling  together  in  purity  of  spirit  and  in  the 
love  of  God.  ... 

"  In  this  circle  the  atmosphere  is  exhilarating  to  the  spirit ; 
the  houses  are  in  circles  of  six,  with  more  extended  grounds, 


tOCOMOTION  IN  THE  WORLD    OF    St»miT8.  76 

and  the  flowers  more  variegated  and  richly  perfumed ;  the 
spirits  have  arbors,  with  vines  running  round  them,  with  fruit 
like  the  grape,  but  larger  and  purer.  The  spirit  brightens 
after  partaking  of  it.  Mountains  rise  in  the  distance,  with 
extended  plains,  with  water-powers,  and  clear,  transparent 
lakes.  They  have  colleges  of  design  with  landscape  paintings. 
Hannibal,  Chambers,  and  others  are  here  in  the  capacity  of 
teachers.  I  meet  here  three  sons  of  Samuel  Haynes,  of  Bel- 
fast, who  are  receiving  instruction.  The  spirits  have  buildings 
for  instruction  in  music,  embroidery,  and  the  composition  of 
flowers,  in  their  higher  formations.  Here  I  meet  one  by  the 
name  of  Helen  A.  Pierce  receiving  instruction.  Children  are 
receiving  instruction,  and  are  learning  to  sing  and  play  on 
the  harp.  Congeniality  of  spirit  reigns  prominent  here.  The 
young  assemble  in  classes  for  the  cultivating  of  flowers  and 
the  spiritual  development  of  their  minds,  and  all  is  done  for 
the  good  of  others  and  the  glory  of  God." 

Ith  Sphere.  "  Light  now  dawns  with  celestial  brilliancy  I 
The  scenery  is  grand ;  the  teachers  are  from  the  celestial 
spheres.  Unity  of  feeling  and  love  universally  pervades  this 
divine  realm.  They  have  vast  universities.  In  one  of  these 
were  surgeons  from  various  parts  of  the  world  —  America, 
England,  France,  Russia,  Prussia,  China,  Japan,  and  other 
countries  of  the  globe. 

"  The  studies  here  were  anatomical,  psychological,  and  spir- 
itual ;  also  great  attention  was  given  to  the  laws  of  mesmer- 
ism, magnetism,  impressional  and  inspirational  influences,  thac 
they  might  by  influx  become  better  understood  upon  earth.  .  .  . 

"  In  this  circle  they  do  not  seem  to  have  fixed  habitations, 
but  when  they  need  a  covering,  it  is  immediately  improvised 
from  the  elements ;  they  talk  with  each  other  by  looks  —  being 
transparent,  they  see  each  other's  thoughts ;  when  they  wish 
for  refreshment  they  compound  it  out  of  the  elements,  and 
from  etherealized  fluids ;  they  telegraph  by  thought  of  the 
spirit.  The  air  is  melodious  with  warbling  notes  of  gaily- 
plumaged  birds.  These  spirits  visit  by  thought  and  will. 
They  descend  to  the  other  circles  and  to  the  earth  to  teach 


76  niMORTALITY. 

Here  are  children  descending  in  groups  from  the  celestiul 
heavens,  covered  with  flowers,  and  bearing  baskets  of  fruit  on 
their  arms,  to  be  taught  in  wisdom  and  music,  and  the  compo- 
sition of  flowers,  to  be  prepared  to  visit  other  spheres  and 
earth,  and  gather  knowledge.  They  are  very  noble  in  stature, 
symmetrical  in  form,  and  pure  in  spirit,  constantly  joining 
together  in  singing,  praise,  and  worship,  and-  they  manifest 
great  joy  and  congeniality  of  mind.  .  ,  . 

"  Each  acts  up  to  his  ideal  —  and  labor  is  a  work  of  love.  I 
see  in  this  celestial  sphere  no  insects  or  lower  forms  of  animal 
life.  I  see  multitudes  of  spirits  coursing  their  way  through 
the  elements,  visiting  and  commingling  with  each  other  in 
different  parts  of  the  circle,  and  visiting  the  earth  and  spheres 
and  then  returning.  .  .  . 

"  The  joy  here  is  ecstatic.  Thousands  of  happy  children 
assemble  to  greet  with  music  and  messages  of  love  those  who 
arrive  from  other  spheres  as  visitors  or  explorers  in  the  realm 
of  thought.  Their  very  motions  are  musical,  and  the}'  con- 
verse by  looks  and  facial  expressions.  Oh,  could  you  con- 
nect with  this  vital  cord  and  ascend  up  here  and  behold  the 
glory  and  joy  that  reigns,  you  would  not  wish  to  return.  I 
shall  soon  be  with  you  again,  but  do  not  desire  to  stay,  but 
must,  so  they  say,  return  and  take  up  the  body.  I  want  you 
to  prepare  while  living  to  ascend  to  the  celestial  spheres,  and 
live  with  these  joyous  and  happy  spirits."  .  .  . 

On  the  11th  of  December  the  previous  guides  retired,  giv- 
ing place  to  a  higher  order  of  spiritual  intelligence,  among 
which,  it  was  said,  were  Josephus,  Samuel,  the  prophet  Dan- 
iel, and  others.  .  .  .  The  body  of  the  medium  having  received 
but  a  very  trifle  of  nourishment  since  the  beginning  of  the 
entrancement  had  become  exceedingly  weak.  And  yet,  un- 
der the  direction  of  spirits,  who  on  earth  were  physicians,  the 
medium's  body  had  received  the  most  careful  attention  from 
Mrs.  Pierce  and  other  anxious  friends.  .  .  .  There  was  now 
a  cessation  of  the  communications  for  several  hours.  This,  the 
attendants  were  informed,  was  necessary  while  the  spirit,  away 
from  the  mediumistic  body,  was  being  prepared  for  the  condi' 


LOCOMOTION  IN   THE   WORLD   OP   SPIRITS.  77 

dons  that  pertained  to  tlie  sensitive  states  in  the  higher  and 
more  heavenly  spheres. 

Commencing  the  communications  again  at  seven  o'clock, 
from  the  first  circle  of  the  celestial  spheres,  the  medium  re- 
porting down  through  the  spheres  below  him,  says :  "  The 
scenery  and  surroundings  here  are  too  glorious  for  delinea- 
tion. No  poet  can  describe  them,  no  artist  put  them  upon 
canvas.  The  rays  of  light  seem  to  descend  from  the  great 
central  sun  of  the  universe.  The  atmosphere  is  warm,  mel- 
low, and  golden.  Breathing  is  living.  All  is  calm  and  peace- 
ful. The  clothing  of  the  spirits  is  ethereal  and  shining  in 
their  whiteness.  The  dreams  of  paradise  are  here  more  than 
realized.  Humility  is  the  gem,  truth  the  pearl  sought  for, 
love  the  law  obeyed,  and  wisdom  the  purpose  of  the  soul's 
perpetual  search.  Everything  moves  in  perfect  harmony,  be- 
cause near  the  great  Ruling  Spirit  of  the  universe.  .  .  . 

"  Now  a  vast  assembly  of  spirits  meet  me,  and  I  am  led  to 
a  large  pavilion  prepared  for  my  reception.  Heavenly  music 
greets  my  ears,  and  the  delicious  odors  of  flowers  are  cast 
over  and  around  me.  Now  six  beautiful  spirits  approach  me, 
clothed  in  shining  garments,  and  girt  about  with  golden  gir- 
dles. Samuel,  the  ancient  prophet,  steps  forth,  facing  me, 
having  in  his  hand  a  golden  horn.  And  another  spirit  ap- 
proaching, removes  my  outer  garments,  placing  them  upon  a 
cushion  of  white  flowers,  and  Samuel,  in  the  name  of  God  the 
Father  of  us  all,  anoints  me  with  holy  oil.  The  influence  of 
this,  poured  upon  my  head,  penetrates  to  the  very  depths  of 
my  being.  It  seemingly  expands  and  vivifies  my  whole  spirit 
form.  He  now  places  upon  my  head  a  crown  of  mingled 
thorns  and  flowers,  symbolizing  the  mission  that  I  have  yet  to 
fulfill  upon  earth.  Though  illumined,  I  feel  that  I  have 
thorny  paths  to  tread  ;  but  sweet-scented  flowers  will  bloom 
along  the  pathways  of  my  life.  They  now  place  upon  me 
another  spiritual  garment,  bright  and  more  ethereal,  praying 
that  I  may  never  soil  it."  .  .  . 

Very  soon  after  this  spiritual  anointing  and  heavenly  bap- 
tism, Dr.  Pierce  saw,  surrounded  by  a  halo  of  golden  light,- 


78  IMMORTALITY. 

a  light  almost  unapproachable  —  the  great  Mediator  —  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  .  .  .  Conducted  by  these  ancient  spirits,  this  me- 
dium visited  other  planets,  describing  them  so  far  as  he  could 
find  appropriate  language  so  to  do.  Still  traversing  these  di- 
vine abodes,  he  at  one  time  exclaimed :  "  These  spirits  about 
me  now  have  bodies  more  transparent,  if  possible,  than  purest 
arystal.  When  they  need  sustenance  they  condense  ethereal 
essences,  and  appropriate  them  by  absorption.  In  the  most 
perfect  purity  of  spirit  they  live  together  in  one  great  famil}', 
passing  and  repassing  at  will  to  the  different  planets  that  dot 
the  immensities.  They  are  humble  and  reverent,  continually 
worshiping  God  in  purity.  Through  the  perfection  of  the 
elements  their  motions  fill  the  air  with  sweetest  music.  In 
my  earthly  body  clothing  is  for  concealment  and  comfort,  but 
these  beings  are  so  pure  that  only  a  gauze-like  covering  drapes 
their  spirit  forms.  They  live  and  bathe  in  an  atmosphere  of 
purity  and  love."  .  .  . 

This  medium  had  been  absent  so  long  from  his  physical 
body  —  absent  save  the  connecting  cord  of  sympathy  —  that 
it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  he  could  re-enter  and 
re-possess  his  organism.  Not  only  was  he  blind  and  over- 
sensitive at  first,  but  be  could  neither  use  his  vocal  organs  to 
speak,  nor  make  use  of  his  limbs  to  walk.  Some  other  symp- 
toms, not  necessary  to  name,  were  exceedingly  alarming.  But 
the  sensitiveness  gradually  disappeared,  and  the  physical  and 
spiritual  forces,  after  a  few  days,  assumed  their  wonted  equi- 
librium. 

On  December  23d  he  was  weighed,  and  it  was  found  that 
be  had  lost  eleven  and  a  half  pounds  of  flesh  during  the 
twenty-one  days'  entrancement. 

If  I  rightly  comprehend  these  marvelous  experiences,  of 
which  I  have  subjoined  a  condensed  report,  they  teach  that 
the  medium,  Dr.  Pierce,  being  previously  prepared,  and  then 
aided  by  a  sympathizing  band  of  intelligent  spirits,  literally 
left  his  body,  —  save  the  magnetic  life-cord,  —  and  roamed 
through  many  of  the  societies,  circles,  and  spheres  of  intelli- 
gences that  dwell  in  the  many-mansioned  realm  of  immor- 


LOCOMOTION  ns   THE  WOBIJ)  OP  SPIRITS.  79 

tality.  While  out  of  his  body,  other  spirits  did  not  enter  into 
it,  but  they  held  a  charge  over,  ministering  to,  and  controlling 
it  psychologically. 

The  full  history  of  this  remarkable  and  very  strange 
twenty-one  days'  trance  has  been  related  to  me,  not  only 
by  Dr.  Pierce  and  his  excellent  family,  but  by  several  other 
witnesses.  The  doctor  is  a  resident  of  Boston,  and  a  prao- 
tising  physician.* 

•  The  sevcQ  spheres  above  described  are  properly  included  within  the  "  Ultimate 
Heavens  "  mentioned  by  Swedenborg  and  other  seers.  Above  these,  according  to 
these  writers,  are  the  "tr^'-taal  Heavens"  and  the  "Celestial  Heavens,"  each  of 
which  are  again  subdivided  into  a  seven-fold  series.  The  more  interior  visions,  or 
ipiritua]  joumeyiags,  of  the  seer  just  quoted,  probably  relate  to  the  Spiritual  Heavens 


•^0  IMMOBTAUTT. 


CHAPTER   X. 

OUR   LITTLE  ONES   IN   HEAVEN. 

"  '  Do  they  want  mc  up  in  heaven  ?    Can  you  tell  me,  mamma  dear, 
What  those  sti-anjje  and  solemn  voices  mean  that  in  the  night  I  hear, 
Softly  saying,  "  Come,  dear  children ;  for  of  such  our  kingdoms  are  "  / 
Do  you  tliink  they  want  me  yonder  ?    Is  it  vciy,  very  far  ? 

Oh,  I  hear  such  heavenly  music;  and  there's  somethL'ig  all  in  white 
Comes  and  stands  beside  my  little  bed,  and  makes  the  room  so  light 
That  I  look  at  you  and  papa,  and  at  brother  Gcorgie,  too ; 
Wondering  you  can  sleep.     But  maybe  it's  for  me,  and  not  for  you. 

And  they  clasp  their  arms  about  me,  and  I  do  not  thiuk  of  pain. 
For  I  close  my  eyes  and  listen  till  the  music  comes  again. 
They  are  calling  me  so  tenderly,  I  know  I  can  not  stay 
Only  just  a  little  longer,  till  the  coming  of  the  day. 

Mamma,  kiss  me !    Papa,  hold  me !    Clasp  my  hands  so  close  and  strong 
That  I  may  not  lose  your  presence  in  the  glory  of  the  throng 
Who  have  come  to  take  me  from  you,  and  will  wait  for  you  again, 
When  dear  Jesus  says,  "  Come  higher !    Joy  receive  for  grief  and  pain." 

There  is  something  I  must  tell  you  ere  I  go,  if  you  can  hear: 
I  shall  tell  them  how  I  loved  you;  they  can  never  be  more  dear; 
And  perhaps  they'll  let  me  see  you,  when  you  think  I'm  far  away. 
And  will  let  me  guard  and  guide  your  steps  from  evil  day  by  day. 

When  you  pray,  I  may  be  listening,  and  my  heart  will  thrill  with  joy. 
If  you  fail  and  sin  — God  help  us !  —  it  will  crush  your  darling  boy. 
I  shall  draw  you  to  me  softly,  as  the  angels  take  me  now.' 
So  the  little  voice  is  silenced,  and  the  stricken  mouraei-s  bow." 

The  Independb^jt. 

"  SuflFer  little  children,  and  forbid  them  not,  to  come  unto  me :  for  of  such  is  tb\ 
kingdom  of  heaven."  Jesus. 

There  is  nothing  purer,  sweeter  to  look  upon  than  a  smil- 
ing infant.     The  poet  tenderly  sung : 

"  The  angels  have  need  of  these  holy  buds  in  their  gardens  so  fair; 
They  graft  them  on  immortal  stems  to  bloom  forever  there." 

Earth  is  the  seminary  of  Heaven  —  the  land  where  the 
Boul  takes  root  in  the  material  to  develop  and  perfect  a  more 


VUn   LITTLK   ONES   IN   HEAVEN.  81 

mature  individuality.  It  is  the  rudimentary  school  —  the  be- 
ginning of  experiences  on  the  outer  verge  of  the  great  cycle 
of  life.  All  infants  and  children  are,  of  course,  still  children 
in  the  beginning  of  the  resurrection  state.  They  are  not 
angels,  but  only  capable  of  becoming  such.  The  actual  evils 
of  the  world,  not  having  been  rooted  in  their  tender  minds, 
they  are  at  death  taken  immediately  into  the  care  of  good 
spirits  and  angels  whose  ruling  desire  is  a  delight  in  children. 
They  find  great  peace  in  the  exercise  of  this  loving  care,  and 
the  discharge  of  this  heavenly  duty.  They  watch  and  wait 
for  the  coming  of  the  little  ones,  that  they  may  bear  them 
tenderly  in  their  loving  arms  to  the  spheres  of  purity  and 
the  schools  of  the  angels. 

A  few  years  ago,  in  a  New  England  village,  a  little  boy  lay 
on  his  death-bed.  Starting  suddenly  up,  he  exclaimed,  "  O 
mother,  mother  I  I  see  such  a  beautiful  country,  and  so  many 
little  children,  who  are  beckoning  me  to  them  !  but  there  are 
high  mountains  between  us,  too  high  for  me  to  climb.  Who 
will  carry  me  over?"  After  thus  expressing  himself,  he 
leaned  back  on  his  pillow,  and  for  a  while  seemed  to  be  in 
deep  thought,  when,  once  more  arousing,  and  stretching  out 
his  little  hands,  he  cried,  as  loud  as  his  feeble  voice  would 
permit,  "  Mother,  mother,  the  man  's  come  to  carry  me  over 
the  mountain."  He  was  peacefully  asleep.  The  man  had 
indeed  come  to  carry  the  little  one  over. 

"  In  the  spirit  world,"  says  a  writer,  "  I  have  seen  the  happy  groups  of  children 

frolickinj?,  dancing,  gathering  flowers,  listening  to  music,  gaining  instruction,  and  un- 
folding in  beauty  and  in  life.  Glcsaome  sounds  burst  from  their  glcesome  hearts  — 
sweet  lisps  of  atfcction  and  the  mischievous  frolics  of  the  child-heart.  But  arouud  every 
child  was  an  aura,  or  a  thread  of  life,  that  connected  it  with  earth,  so  that  it  was  to 
know  where  it  was  born,  and  to  tell  each  one's  parentage.  It  was  forever  floating 
through  the  spirit  atmosphere  —  the  spirit-forces  of  the  parents  went  upward,  and  by 
natural  law  wound  their  life  arouud  and  in  their  little  ones.  This  life  is  the  result  of 
affections,  and  if  the  child  is  loved  but  little,  then  the  spirit  law  has  severed  the  child 
from  this  life,  since  it  was  by  attraction  —  which  is  love  —  that  the  life  of  earth  fol- 
lowed it  away  into  the  spirit  world  and  wound  itself  about  the  child  of  its  love.  There 
is  no  force  power  but  by  a  natural  law  of  spirit  —  law  of  life." 

(      "  The  spiritual  bodies  of  little  childi-en  grow  transcendently  lovely.     No  human 

'   mind  can  conceive  of  the  beauty  and  grace  of  these  little  ones.    No  unlovely  objects 

harm  them  —  no  frightful  disease  rends  them.    They  unfold,  as  in  spriig  the  rosebud 


82  DIMORTALITY. 

opens  to  the  sun,  or  as  the  petals  of  the  lily  unclose  to  the  light  of  day.  They  all  bea» 
a  semblance,  at  first,  to  their  natural  bodies ;  but  as  their  souls  grow  and  their  spirits 
shine  with  t)ie  life  of  their  souls,  then  they  appear  as  their  interior,  or  mind,  makps 
them.  The  spirit  body  flows  from  the  natural  body.  It  is  composed  of  its  electric, 
magnetic,  and  spiritual  life,  and  when  first  born  into  spirit  life  it  has  the  exact  form  «f 
the  natural  body.  But  as  the  giosser  particles  of  its  earthly  magnetism  are  given  oflf 
and  it  becomes  purer  and  truer,  higher  and  holier,  then  it  assumes  a  form  of  perfec- 
tion and  beauty.  What  the  soul  wills  or  reveals,  that  is  life  and  form  and  substance  to 
the  spirit. 

"  It  often  occurs  that  parents  pass  to  the  spirit  world  not  long  before  their  children, 
or  perhaps  at  the  same  time.  Being  uninstructed  in  spiritual  things,  being  ignoi-ant  of 
many,  very  many  of  the  spiritual  laws,  they  are  ill  fitted  to  develop  the  spiritual  life  of 
the  child.  Therefore,  never  mourn  that  you  cannot  go  when  your  child  goes.  It  has 
wiser  nurses  than  you  —  nobler  teachers ;  if  it  has  not  more  love,  yet  it  has  a  higher 
love  —  the  love  developed  by  wisdom." 

"  The  spirits  of  little  children  are  always  magnetized  into  unconsciousness  before 
death.  They  are  never  left  to  pass  away  and  know  the  change.  Sweetly  sleeping, 
they  are  borne  by  the  loved  ones  heavenward,  laid  upon  downy  couches,  fanned  by 
gentle  breezes.  Sometimes  they  sleep  for  days,  for  their  spirits  are  tired  with  the  un- 
natural pains  of  earth.  They  awake  refreshed,  and  open  their  eyes  upon  the  beautiful 
objects  that  childhood  loves,  —  the  most  beautiful  flowers,  bright  colors,  and  swcetly- 
Binging  birds.  And  when  the  little  one  becomes  accustomed  to  its  celestial  life,  and 
feels  the  exultation  of  freedom  from  pain  and  weariness,  then  it  is  prepared  to  visit 
often  those  who  call  for  it  by  continual  longing.  The  wishing  and  longings  of  the 
hearts  of  earth  are  the  spirit  voices  of  earth.  You  speak  your  desire  when  you  long 
earnestly,  for  your  spirit  speaks.  With  loving  hands  the  ministering  angel  bears  these 
little  children  back  to  the  homes  of  earth,  that  they  may  feel  the  warmth  of  parental 
love  and  know  the  joy  of  earthly  afiTcctions.  If  around  the  earthly  parents  or  friends 
there  is  a  healthful  spiritual  atmosphere,  they  ofttimes  remain  days,  and  with  their 
little  voices  send  to  the  spirit  car  of  the  desolate  parents  heavenly  joy.  It  is  the  spirit 
that  must  behold  them,  and  without  the  aid  of  the  external  vision  the  spirit  recognizes 
them.  But  even  when  not  borne  thus,  by  their  life  they  keep  still  the  link  to  earth. 
Is  there  anything  imperfect  in  the  universe  of  God  ? 

"  Now,  let  me  speak  of  the  oflSce  of  these  little  childi-en  in  spirit  life.  Their  oflBce 
t  twofold  —  to  earth  and  to  heaven.  It  is  only  those  who  have  lost  children  to  sight 
and  to  sense  who  can  know  the  longing  and  wish  of  love  sent  thither  by  the  bereaved 
heai-t.  The  mother's  whole  life  —  her  sense  of  joy,  of  hope,  of  wish  —  her  prayers, 
her  desires,  all  centred  in  this  object  when  it  passed  away.  However  much  of  love 
there  was  for  others,  yet  then  it  was  not  allowed  to  express  itself:  it  burned  about  the 
loved  one  gone.  Is  that  kind  parent's  heart  to  turn  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  bo 
mocked  by  nothingness.  No !  The  tender  life  of  your  child  is  still  with  you  :  you 
claim  it  —  you  must  have  it.  And  so  the  link  of  that  parent's  soul,  bright,  glowing 
with  God's  love  —  for  God  is  love  —  is  made  firm  to  heaven.  Can  parents  forget  their 
chill'.  ?  Can  they  draw  back  their  hearts  from  it  ?  No !  Upward  go  their  prayers, 
onward  go  their  aspirations,  until  those  parents  live  partly  on  earth  and  partly  in 
heaven.  Their  spiritual  nature  grows ;  they  are  less  selfish,  more  tender ;  they  are 
nearer  to  heaven  for  eveiy  thought  of  love  sent  thither.  The  father's  strong  nature 
rises  to  a  sublimity  of  hope,  and  borne  to  each,  from  the  realm  they  seek  in  thouglil 
and  prayer,  come  the  sweet  ministrations  that  purify  and  ennoble  the  heart  of  ma».. 


OUR   LITTLE  ONES   IN  xfEAVEN.  83 

And  those  who  feel  that  they  have  still  to  perform  the  sacred  office  of  love  by  their 
own  life  to  their  child  in  heaven  must  shame  into  silence  every  unworthy  thought  — 
must  ennoble  and  purify  their  lives,  and  must  prove  themselves  worthy  8o  sacred  ao 
office." 


"  We  appeal  to  you,  O  reader,  in  truth,  be  perfect,  purifrj  yourself,  bring  yourself 
into  harmony  with  the  divine  nature.  Study  this  law  of  childhood,  of  its  p^rowth  and 
the  in&uence  you  have  upon  it,  and  you  will  read  God's  words.  O  parents  and  friends, 
become  holy  by  becoming  spiritual,  that  you  may  create  beauty  and  holiness.  If  you 
study  the  laws  that  unite  you  to  the  little  ones  in  heaven,  you  will  read  in  them  only 
this  command :  Fit  yourselves  to  be  teachers  of  angel  children." 

In  that  beautiful  volume  entitled,  '-'-Heaven  Opened,'" 
through  the  mediumship  of  F.  I.  Theobald,  London,  Eng., 
we  have  the  history  of  one  who  entered  the  spirit  world  a 
child.     How  sweet  the  message  : 

"  When  I  fii'st  awoke  to  spirit  life,  I  was  not  conscious  that  I  had  passed  away.  I 
found  myself  surrounded  by  all  delightful  things.  Lovely  forms  were  around  me, 
harmonious  sounds  filled  my  ears,  and  all  things  wei-e  beautiful.  But  beautiful  as 
they  presented  themselves  to  me  on  my  first  awakening,  they  were  not  perceived  by 
my  eyes  (hardly  aroused  to  the  fullness  of  spirit  power)  in  the  very  fullness  of  their 
beauty.  I  was  not  capable  of  assimilating  to  my  senses  the  full  extent  of  the  grandeur. 
That  comes  gradually,  and  belongs  to  the  training  of  the  spirit.  My  perceptions  were 
as  yet  dull ;  therefore  as  the  idea  of  fairy  land  had  always  been  the  beau-ideal  of  all 
things  charming,  although  I  could  not  put  the  expression  of  this  beau-ideal  in  lan- 
guage, still  I  thought  myself  to  be  in  faiiy  land.    Nothing  else  could  I  think  of."  .  .  . 

♦'  Sfuc'i  have  we  young  spirits  to  be  taught.  We  have  regular  classes  for  instruc- 
tion in  all  branches  of  knowledge  and  science,  which  is  from  us  given  to  your  earth 
philosophers.  It  is  all  originated  here.  Most  of  the  human  discoveries  and  signs  of 
progress  are  taught  or  inspired  into  your  earth  minds  fi-ora  those  of  us  here  who  are 
deputed  to  transmit  that  especial  knowledge.  It  depends  upon  the  sphere  or  society  of 
spirits,  capable  of  opening  inner  commuuicaton  with  the  especial  man,  or  medium, 
what  kind  of  knowledge  is  taught  by  that  man.  lie  originates  little  or  nothing  him- 
self. He  may,  by  his  own  innate  spirit  power,  expand  the  germ  of  knowledge  im- 
planted by  us  from  God,  but  nothing  more.  As  wc  spirits  here  are  taught,  so  do  we 
in  turn  impart  our  teachings  to  the  imprisoned  spirit  in  the  earth  body ;  and  thus  does 
God  in  his  goodness  cause  man  to  alleviate  his  own  condition." 

*'  There  are  vast  assemblies  of  us.  We  have  large  pavilion  houses  dedicated  to 
knowledge.  But  when  we  arc  taught  of  botany,  and  of  all  the  wonders  of  nature  in 
which  we  live,  we  go  in  large  companies  on  many  long  journeys  of  exploration.  This 
ia  tiuly  delightful.  The  advanced  spirits,  those  who  are  suited  for  such,  and  who  de- 
sire it,  visit  various  planets  in  the  universe." 

The  activity  of  the  love  nature  in  man  is  a  prophecy  of 
the  harmonial  man.  The  same  Jesus  that  wept  with  Martha 
and  Mary  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  took  little  children  in  his 
arms  and  blessed  them,  saying,  "  Of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven." 


84  IMMORTALITY. 

One  of  the  editors  of  the  Neiv  York  3Iiisical  lieview,  Mr 
Bradbury,  writing  under  the  inspiration  of  a  father's  outgush- 
ing  love  and  affliction  over  the  loss  of  a  beautiful  child,  says: 

"  Kittie  is  jrone.  Where  ?  To  heaven.  An  anjiel  came  and  took  her  away.  She 
wag  a  lovely  child  —  gentle  as  a  lamb;  the  pet  of  the  whole  family;  the  youug^est  of 
them  all.  But  she  could  not  stay  with  them  any  longer.  She  had  an  angel  sister  in 
htaven  waiting  for  her.  The  angel  sister  was  with  us  only  a  few  months,  but  she  has 
been  in  heaven  many  years,  and  she  must  have  loved  Kittie,  for  everybody  loved  her. 
The  loveliest  flowers  are  soonest  plucked.  If  a  little  voice,  sweeter  and  more  musical 
than  others,  was  heard,  I  knew  Kittie  was  near;  if  my  study-aoor  opened  so  gently  and 
stilly  that  no  sound  was  heard,  I  knew  Kittie  was  near;  if  after  an  hour's  quiet  play  a 
little  shadow  passed  me,  and  the  door  opened  and  shut  as  no  one  else  could  open  and 
shut  it,  '  so  as  not  to  disturb  papa,'  I  knew  Kittie  was  going. 

"  When  in  the  midst  of  my  composing  I  heard  a  gentle  voice  saying,  '  Papa,  may  I 
stay  with  you  a  little  while  ?  I  will  be  very  still,'  I  did  not  need  to  look  off  my  work  to 
assure  me  that  it  was  my  little  lamb.  You  stayed  with  me  too  long,  Kittie  dear,  to 
leave  me  so  suddenly :  and  you  are  too  still  now.  You  became  my  little  assistant  — 
my  home  angel  —  my  youngest  and  sweetest  singing-bird  —  and  I  miss  the  little  voice 
that  I  have  so  often  heard  in  an  adjoining  room,  catching  up  and  echoing  little  snatches 
of  melody  as  they  were  being  composed.  I  miss  those  soft  and  sweet  kisses ;  I  miss 
tlie  little  hand  that  was  always  first  to  be  placed  on  my  forehead,  '  to  drive  away  the 
pain; '  I  miss  the  sound  of  those  little  feet  upon  the  stairs;  I  miss  the  little  knock  at 
my  bedroom-door  in  the  morning,  and  the  triple  good-night  kiss  in  the  evening;  I 
miss  the  sweet  smiles  from  the  sunniest  of  faces;  I  miss  —  oh!  how  I  miss  the  fore- 
most in  the  little  group  who  came  out  to  meet  me  at  the  gate  for  the  first  kiss ;  I  miss 
von  at  the  table  and  at  family  worship;  I  miss  your  voice  in  *  I  want  to  be  an  angel,' 
lor  nobody  could  sing  it  like  you ;  1  miss  you  in  my  rides  and  walks ;  I  miss  you  in 
the  garden ;  I  miss  you  everywhere ;  but  I  will  try  not  to  miss  you  in  heaven.  '  Papa, 
if  we  are  good,  will  an  angel  truly  come  and  take  us  to  heaven  when  we  die  f '  When 
me  question  was  asked,  how  little  did  I  think  the  angel  was  so  near.  But  he  did 
'  truly '  come,  and  the  sweet  flower  is  transplanted  to  a  genial  clime.  *  I  do  wish  papa 
would  come  home.'  Wait  a  little  while,  Kittie,  and  papa  will  come.  The  journey  is 
not  long.    He  will  soon  be  home." 

Swedenborg,  the  clearest  seer  since  Jesus  of  Syria,  and 
John  of  Patmos,  saw  with  unsealed  eyes  the  glories  of  the 
inner  life  of  the  upper  courts  of  Heaven.  He  observes  in 
his  diary : 

"  I  saw  a  garden  constructed  not  of  trees,  but  of  leafy  arches,  somewhat  lofty,  with 
walks  and  entrance  ways,  and  a  virgin  walking  therein,  and  also  infants  five  or  six 
years  old,  who  were  beautifully  clothed.  And  when  she  entered,  the  most  exquisite 
wreaths  of  garlands  of  flowers  sprang  forth  over  the  entrance,  and  shone  with  splen- 
dor as  she  approached.  I  was  informed  that  little  infant  girls  see  objects  in  this  man- 
ner, that  they  appear  thus  to  walk  and  thus  to  be  clothed  and  to  be  adorned  with  new 
garments  according  to  their  perfection.  That  all  this  appears  to  them  to  the  life  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  such  things  are  suitable  to  a  spirit,  who  cannot  walk  ou 
■  paved  or  graveled  way,  nor  possess  such  gardens  as  exist  on  earth,  but  such  things 
only  as  corrttpond  to  the  natuiv  of  a  spirit !     It  is  sufficient  that  they  perceive  them  v 


OUR    LITTLE    ONES    IX    HEAVEN.  85 

rividly;  yea,  more  vividly  than  men  perceive  similar  things  in  gardens  in  this  world; 
fts  I  have  also  perceived  them  when  I  have  been  in  spirit,  and  often  at  other  times,  as 
did  the  prophets.    August  15,  1749." 

Death,  seen  from  the  mount  of  Spiritualism,  is  a  poem  —  a 
delightful  transition  that  bears  our  loved  ones  over  the  river, 
but  not  away  from  us.  Though  many  of  us  can  not  see 
them,  they  see  us.  Our  little  ones,  whose  infantile  bodies  we 
laid  away  under  the  tnif  where  the  wild-brier  twines,  and 
spring  flower.^  bloom,  are  with  us  still.  Guardian  angels  bring 
them  to  us.  They  look  into  our  faces.  They  li.steu  to  our 
language,  and  in  a  measure  we  are  their  educators  still.  Do 
we  not  love  them  ;  and  is  not  that  love  mutual  ?  Do  we  not 
desire  to  meet  and  be  with  them  when  the  good  angel  of  death 
beckons  us  to  the  thither  side  of  Jordan's  peaceful  river? 
Then  must  we  be  just  and  kind,  manly  and  spiritual. 

If  our  lives  have  been  noble  and  self-sacrificing,  our  souls 
will  be  pure  with  the  purity  of  the  morning ;  they  will  be 
beautiful  with  the  beauty  of  the  evening;  they  will  Ije  lovely 
with  the  loveliness  of  the  silvery  moonlight ;  and  they  will  be 
peaceful  with  that  peace  that  passeth  all  understanding ;  and 
we  shall  be  prepared  to  re-clasp  the  loved  ones  in  our  arms, 
listening  to  the  lute-like  words,  "  Welcome,  father  !  welcome, 
mother !  come  with  us  to  our  homes  —  our  angel  homes  of 
beauty  and  blessedness." 

If  death  and  sleep  have  been  compared  to  twin  brothers, 
old  age  has  been  compared  to  childhood  —  once  a  man,  twice 
a  child.  The  ripening  years  of  "  old  age  are  stalls  in  the 
cathedral  of  life  in  which  aged  men  may  sit  and  listen  and 
meditate  and  I  e  patient  till  the  service  is  over,  and  in  which 
they  may  get  tuemselves  ready  to  say  Amen." 

Since  the  dawn  of  Spiritualism,  the  phrase  "  the  silent 
majority,"  as  applied  to  the  dead,  has  nearly  gone  out  of  use. 
Though  our  friends,  one  by  one,  singly  and  alone,  have  passed 
on,  or  continue  to  emigrate,  they  are  not  silent.  "  Being  dead,'' 
as  the  apostle  says,  "they  yet  speak."  And  we,  in  speaking 
of  the  dead,  should  not  tell  how  we  loved^  but  how  we  love 
them.     We  should  cease  to  talk  of  them  as  though  they  were 


86  IMMOETALITY. 

not,  but  rather,  should  we  speak  of  them  as  though  in  our 
midst.  On  festal  occasions  we  should  set  for  them  the  empty 
chair,  put  the  plate  in  its  accustomed  place  and  the  bouquet 
of  flowers  upon  the  board,  treasure  for  a  season  the  little  keep- 
sakes, and  consciously  realize  that  death,  coming  like  a  masked 
angel,  to  release  them  from  physical  pain,  has  only  removed 
them  from  our  visible,  tangible  embrace.  Spiritually  they  are 
nol  separated  or  dissociated  from  us.  Our  affections  flow  into 
and  mingle  with  theirs  still.  Though  their  homes  —  speaking 
after  the  order  of  earth  —  may  be  far  away  in  angel  realms, 
the  islands  of  the  blest  —  guardian  angels  delight  to  bring 
them  to  us  in  dreams,  and  in  the  visions  of  the  night.  Let 
us  try  to  so  live  that  when  the  white  hand  of  death  is  laid 
upon  us,  we  may  go  with  them  up  through  the  spheres  to  the 
beautiful  island-homes  of  immortality. 

Socrates,  in  the  Gorgian  (p.  523)  tells  Callicles  to  listen  to 
what  he  believes  to  be  true.  "  In  the  days  of  Cronos,"  says 
he,  "  there  was  this  law  respecting  the  destiny  of  man  :  that 
he  who  has  lived  all  his  life  in  justice  and  holiness  shall  go, 
when  he  dies,  to  the  Islands  of  the  Blest,  and  dwell  ther*>  in 
perfect  happiness  out  of  the  reach  of  evil." 

"  The  islands  of  the  blest :  they  say 
The  islands  of  the  blest 
Are  peaceful  and  happy  by  night  and  day, 
Far  away  in  the  glorious  West. 

They  need  not  the  moon  in  that  land  of  delight, 

They  need  not  the  pale,  pale  star ; 
The  sun,  he  is  bright  by  day  and  night 

Where  the  souls  of  the  blessed  are. 

They  till  not  the  ground,  they  plough  not  the  ware. 

They  labor  not —  never !  oh,  never ! 
Not  a  tear  do  they  shed,  not  a  sigh  do  they  heave,  — 

They  are  happy  forever  and  ever. 

Soft  is  the  breeze,  like  the  evening  one, 

When  the  sun  has  gone  to  his  rest ; 
And  the  sky  is  pure,  and  clouds  there  are  none, 

In  the  islands  of  the  blest. 

The  deep,  clear  sea,  in  its  mazy  bed. 

Doth  garlands  of  gems  unfold ; 
Not  a  tree,  but  it  blazes  with  crowns  for  the  dead, 

Even  flowers  of  living  gold." 


WXPEBIENCE3  THEOUGH  THE   HELLS   INTO   HEAVEN.        87 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  PERSONAL    EXPERIENCES   OF   AARON  KNIGHT  THROUGH 
THE  HELLS  INTO   HEAVEN. 

"  I  know  thee  not  —  I  never  heard  thine  earthly  voice : 
Yet,  could  I  choose  a  friend  from  all  the  spheres, 
Thy  spirit  high  should  be  my  spirit's  choice, 
Thy  heart  should  guide  ray  heart, 
Thy  mind,  my  mind." 

Q.  How  long  have  you  been  in  spirit-life,  Mr.  Knight ;  and 
what  was  your  condition  there  after  the  transition  ? 

A.  I  left  your  earth-land  of  darkness  from  Yorkshire,  Eng- 
land, nearly  two  hundred  years  since,  and  my  condition,  im- 
mediately after  the  change  of  worlds,  was  far  from  being 
pleasurable  or  desirable. 

Q.  What  were  your  sensations  when  fully  realizing  the 
change  ? 

A.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  them,  because  of  the  confusion 
of  thought  and  the  dark,  weird  strangeness  of  the  situation. 
I  did  not  live  the  life  I  ought  to  have  lived  when  encased  in 
a  mortal  body.  This  added  to,  if  it  did  not  cause  the  confu- 
sion and  painful  dissatisfaction. 

Although  my  father  was  a  prominent  churchman,  and  my 
brother,  the  Rev.  James  Knight,  an  English  clergyman,  I  was 
a  materialist  and  given  to  intoxicating  beverages.  Coming  to 
consciousness  in  spirit-life,  I  was  at  first  inclined  to  doubt  my 
existence ;  at  least,  I  could  not  realize  that  my  body  was  dead, 
and  that  I  was  still  living  in  the  same  shaped  yet  far  more 
attenuated  and  etherealized  body.  Was  I  dreaming?  This 
could  not  be,  for  I  saw  my  body  buried,  which  when  done, 
the.  attending  spirits  left  me  to  myself — left  me  alone. 


88  IMMORTALITY. 

The  atmosphere  surrounding  rae  was  dark-hued  and  hazy. 
It  seemed  to  belong  to  me,  and  I  said  to  myself,  "  How  strange, 
I  see  no  God,  no  devil,  no  heaven,  no  hell ;  and  yet  I  exist — 
but  oh,  so  lonely  I"  Just  how  long  this  suspense  continued 
I  cannot  tell.  It  is  not  pleasant,  considering  the  position  that 
I  now  occupy  under  the  providence  of  God  and  His  good 
angels,  to  reflect  back  upon  it.  All  learn  in  our  life,  if  not 
in  yours,  that  penalties,  like  shadows,  follow  us  each  and  all ; 
none  can  get  away  from  themselves !  .  .  .  After  lingering  for 
a  time  in  this  darkness,  and  thinking  intently  upon  some  of 
the  rollicking  associates  who  passed  to  what  you  term  spirit- 
life,  before  me,  they  were  attracted  to  me  by  the  psychic  law 
of  sympathy,  and  I  joined  them  in  their  haunts  and  engaged 
in  their  frivolous  pursuits.  My  spirit-world  at  this  time  was 
the  earth-world.  Often  did  I,  with  others,  resort  to  inns  and 
coffee-houses,  and  engage  with  mortals  psychologically  and 
sympathetically  in  games,  fox-chasing,  hurdle-leaping,  and 
other  useless  and  unproii table  sports.  Though  nominally  in 
the  world  of  spirits,  my  affections  and  thoughts  continued 
upon  earthly  things.  My  moral  status  and  tendency  of  mind 
barred  me  away  from  the  heavens  of  the  good  and  the  blest. 
My  home  was  in  the  hells :  but  they  were  hells  not  entirely 
d  3 void  of  an  inferior  kind  of  pleasure.  .  .  . 

Long,  weary  years  rolled  away  before  I  made  any  perceptible 
1  rogress.  I  cannot  say  that  I  absolutely  retrogressed ;  and 
yet,  quite  possibly,  I  did  in  some  directions,  if  not  as  a  whole. 
But  be  this  as  it  ma}',  remorse  would  often  sting  me.  I  did 
not  find  complete  rest.  The  diviner  aspirations  of  my  soul 
would  occasionally  turn  toward  the  higher  and  the  better. 
This  condition,  I  think,  nearly  corresponds  to  what  one  of 
your  seers — Swedenborg  —  called  life  in  the  hells.  Some  in 
states  lower  than  mine  had  suffered  intense  anguish  for  long 
periods.  They  were  willful  in  their  blindness.  Their  environ- 
ments—  dark  wastes,  barren  fields,  dismal  swamps,  gloomy 
dens,  and  caves  of  horror  —  accorded  fully  with  their  inter- 
nal deiires  and  motives. 

It  ia  leedless  to  inform  you  that  I  was  a  long  time  in  the 


EXPERIENCES   THROUGH  THE  HELLS  INTO  HEAVEN.        89 

v\orld  of  spirits,  and  earth-bound  at  that,  before  I  entered  the 
more  beautiful  spiritual  world.  In  the  transition  to  a  higher 
state  of  happiness,  I  was  aided  more  especially  by  my  brother, 
the  clergyman,  who,  when  he  was  dying,  laid  his  thin,  pale 
hand  upon  my  head  and  blessed  me.  As  I  before  remarked, 
I  was  dissatisfied  with  my  associates  ;  and  while  apart  by  my- 
self praying,  I  saw  in  the  distance  —  so  it  seemed  to  me  —  a 
star.  Reverently  continuing  my  soul  aspirations,  the  star 
seemed  to  approach  nearer,  and  still  nearer,  expanding  till  it 
actually  enveloped  me  in  a  halo  of  brightness  ;  and  out  of 
this  resplendent  brightness  came  before  me  my  brother  !  It 
is  impossible  to  express  my  feelings.  His  robes  almost  daz- 
zled me,  but  his  voice  was  music  itself,  and  his  tender  words 
melted  me  to  tears  of  repentance. 

I  begged  permission  to  go  to  his  home  in  the  heavens  at  once. 
"  No,"  he  replied,  gently,  lovingly ;  "  you  can  only  come  to 
our  heavenly  home  when  prepared ;  but  now  that  you  have 
opened  the  way  by  prayer,  and  aspirations,  for  a  higher  life,  I 
can  come  to  you.  Call  for  me,  brother,  for  I  still  love  you 
with  all  the  warm  gushing  affections  of  my  soul.  Prayer 
pierces  the  portals  of  heaven,  and  invites  the  aid  of  tbe  min- 
istering spirits  of  God." 

Just  as  my  brother  —  a  dear  angel  now  —  was  about  to 
withdraw  from  my  presence,  I  assured  him  that  I  would  for- 
ever leave  all  of  my  old  associates  and  companions  in  dark- 
ness. 

"No,"  said  he  in  tones  sweet  and  tender,  yet  decidedly 
earnest;  "  that  is  not  the  way  to  reach  the  heavenly  abode  of 
the  angels.  Go  directly  to  your  old  associates  as  a  teacher ; 
tell  them  of  your  aims  and  aspirations ;  tell  them,  in  words  of 
kindness  and  love,  that  you  have  seen  your  brother  from  the 
higher  heavens.  Plead  tenderly  with  them  to  become  pure 
and  holy.  Aid  and  encourage  them.  Help,  O  my  brother,  help 
them !  for  in  thus  doing  you  will  be  helped ;  and  in  blessing 
them  you  will  be  thrice  blest.  This  is  the  Christ-spirit,  the 
love-spirit  that  pervades  our  immortal  homes." 

Often  from  this  onward  did  my  brother  come  to  me.     And 


90  niMORTALlTlf. 

thus  aided  and  inspired  by  him  and  other  noble  teachers,  1 
rapidly  unfolded  until  my  surroundings  are  now  divinely 
beautiful,  and  I  am  permitted  to  minister  to  mortals.  .  .  . 

Q.  Does  home  life — do  home  associations  extend  beyond 
mortal  life?     If  so,  are  they  real?     Has  your  home  a  name? 

A .  The  home  associations  of  earth  extend  just  in  the  degree 
that  they  are  harmonial.  Erratic  members  of  an  earthly 
family  coming  into  spirit-life,  voluntarily  separate,  each  seek- 
ing congenial  groups  and  societies.  The  law  of  attraction  is 
the  governing  principle.  The  family  tie,  the  residence,  the 
furniture,  the  paintings,  and  the  surroundings,  are  just  as  real 
and  substantial  to  us,  and  more  so  if  possible,  than  yours  are 
to  you. 

I  call  my  home  "  Pear-Grove  Cottage."  I  was  exceedingly 
fond  of  pears  when  upon  earth,  and  this  taste,  refined  and 
elevated  in  consonance  with  the  law  of  development,  con- 
tinues in  a  degree  with  me  still.  The  garden  reflects  my  con- 
ception of  order,  symmetry,  and  beauty.  Gardeners  cultivate 
it.  They  might  be  called  servants,  and  yet  they  serve  from 
choice.  They  are  conscious  of  benefits  from  being  in  my 
society.  And  I,  too,  often  learn  from  and  serve  them.  The 
wisest  ones  among  us  are  the  most  childlike. 

My  residence  would  be  unique  and  possibly  painfully  so  to 
you.  I  have  never  seen  an  architectural  structure  on  earth 
like  it.  It  tends  to  the  curvilinear ;  it  has  no  sharp  angles, 
but  many  arching  alcoves.  Spirits  do  not  construct  buildings 
from  spirit-substances  by  will-power  alone.  The  will  can  do 
nothing  only  as  it  prompts  to  action,  at  least  so  far  as  my 
observation  extends.  Not  only  the  human  form  as  a  whole, 
but  each  organ  has  its  diviner  uses  with  us.  Mechanical  skill 
and  well-directed  energies  are  requisite  in  the  construction 
of  machines,  buildings,  and  towering  temples.  Our  homes, 
gardens,  and  libraries,  correspond  largely  to  our  mental  states. 
I  have  planted  a  tree  in  my  garden,  and  connected  it  with 
you  magnetically.  It  may  be  compared  to  a  kind  of  mirror, 
or  rather  a  life-history,  upon  the  leaves  of  which  are  regis- 


EXPERIENCES   THROUGH  THE  HELLS   INTO   HEAVEN.      91 

tered  your  daily  deeds.  This,  though  doubtless  a  mystery  to 
you,  is  a  fact  to  me. 

If  I  pluck  a  flower  in  my  garden  it  withers,  unless  I  will 
its  freshness,  and  impart  to  it  a  life  force  prompted  by  my  in- 
terior love  of  flowers.  You  doubtless  understand  that  flowers 
on  earth  grow  the  best  for  those  who  love  them  most.  They 
need  sympathy  as  well  as  care.  ... 

I  have  seen  homes  in  the  higher  heavens  embowered  in 
flowers  and  surrounded  by  velvety  lawns ;  I  have  seen  wind- 
ing promenades,  walks  garnished  with  precious  stones,  foun- 
tains clear  as  crystal,  and  bowers  of  love  where  artists  gather 
to  display  their  penciled  creations,  poets  to  repeat  their  rhytii- 
mic  lines  of  wisdom,  and  musicians  to  ravish  the  soul  with  the 
sweetest  melodies  of  heaven.  And  then,  to  the  contrary,  I 
have  seen  in  the  lower  spheres  of  darkness  clusters,  societies, 
and  cities  of  moral  degradation,  in  the  streets  of  which  unde- 
veloped spirits  were  engaged  in  disputations,  quarrels,  enmi- 
ties, and  pitiful  ravings.  They  delighted  to  annoy  and  torture 
each  other  —  delighted  to  live,  in  a  measure,  their  earthly 
lives  over  again,  and  to  influence  gamblers  in  their  dens,  ine- 
briates in  their  wretched  retreats,  and  debauchees  in  their 
haunts  of  crime.  These  scenes  make  angels  weep,  and  I 
mention  them  with  sadness.  And  yet  the  same  God  is  over 
all,  the  same  influx  of  life  sustains  all,  and  there  is  hope 
for  all  in  the  future. 

Q.    What  are  your  employments  ? 

A.  My  employments  are  teaching  and  being  taught.  I  am 
never  idle.  Labor  with  me  is  a  labor  of  love,  and  rest  con- 
sists in  a  change  from  one  kind  of  employment  to  another. 
I  am  constantly  exploring  new  fields,  forming  new  associa- 
tions, and  toiling  as  best  I  may  to  instruct  new-comers  to 
spirit  life,  and  impress  the  inhabitants  of  earth  to  walk  in  the 
higher  ways  of  truth  and  wisdom. 

Q.  You  deal  too  much  —  pardon  me  —  in  generalities.  Be 
more  pointed ;  tell  me  of  one  scene  you  have  observed  —  one 
act  that  you  have  done  to-day  as  a  spirit  ? 

A.   If  it  can  be  of  real  service  to  you  and  others,  I  will  say 


92  IMMOETALITY. 

that  only  a  few  hours  since  I  saw  a  lady,  not  long  in  spirit 
life,  engaged  in  needle- work.  She  had  her  spirit  fabric  of 
delicate  texture,  her  spirit  thread  and  needle.  On  earth  she 
was  a  seamstress,  excelling  others.  The  finest  stitch  was  her 
joy  and  pride  there  —  it  is  her  heaven  now,  and  doubtless  will 
be  till  she  rises  above  the  special  tastes  of  earthly  life.  .  .  . 
Among  other  acts  tliat  I  participated  in  to-day  was  the  selec- 
tion of  a  spirit  instructor  to  take  iu  charge  and  become  the 
immediate  guardian  of  a  man  who,  in  one  of  your  southern 
cities,  was  executed  for  the  crime  of  murder.  We  made 
choice  of  a  spirit  occupying  a  sphere  vastly  superior  to  the 
criminal's  —  a  spirit  who  had  himself  been  a  murderer,  but 
who  through  fiery  penalties,  expiations,  and  repentance,  had 
advanced  to  a  place  sufficiently  high  to  entitle  him  to  hold  the 
guardian  care  over  this  unhappy  spirit.  From  his  own  unfor- 
tunate earthly  experiences,  we  deemed  him  admirably  adapted, 
through  the  law  of  sympathy  and  charity,  to  act  as  this  spir- 
it's instructor. 

Q.  What  about  marriage,  and  the  relation  of  the  sexes  in 
the  world  of  immortality  ? 

A.  Often  have  I  told  you  that  this  world  is,  almost  to 
completeness,  the  counterpart  of  earth  and  its  inhabitants, 
consequently  social  and  domestic  relations  are  very  similar. 
Wedded  bliss  is  numbered  among  the  numerous  joys  that 
abound  in  the  spiritual  world.  But  marriages  in  the  spheres 
are  not  based  upon  the  ceremonial,  nor  are  they  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procreation  and  selfish  gratification,  but  rather  for 
social  interblendings  and  the  quickening  of  the  spiritual  ac- 
tivities. The  fervent  wish,  the  glance  of  the  eye,  and  the 
soft  touch  of  the  hand,  give  to  conjugal  souls  a  divine  ecstasy 
—  so  they  assure  vie.  On  earth  I  was  called  a  bachelor,  and 
I  remain  such  yet,  if  by  it  is  meant  individualized  singleness 
relative  to  connubial  life.  Still,  I  consider  all  things  from 
minutest  monads  up  to  the  most  royal  soul-angels  to  be  dual ; 
and  I  believe  men  and  women  to  be  the  two  hemis^/heres  of 
the  sphere,  and  as  positives  and  negatives,  corresponding  to 
wisdom  and  love,  they  were  designed  for  sacred  unions.     If 


EXPEEIENCES  THKOUGH  THE  HELLS  INTO   HEAVEN.      93 

these  are  based  in  selfishness,  they  necessarily  terminate  so  mer 
or  later;  but  if  true  and  well  fitted,  the  spiritual  dominating 
when  on  earth,  they  continue  on  in  our  world  of  spiiits. 
Ancient  seers  and  sages,  however,  who  have  summered  many 
thousand  j^ears  in  the  heavens,  assure  me  that  progressively- 
inclined  spirits  so  unfold,  so  approximate  the  divine,  that 
ultimately  their  loves  become  universal^  the  love  of  each  flow- 
ing out  to  all,  as  the  sun  shines  upon  all,  and  as  God's  life 
and  love  flow  into  all  immortal  intelligences. 

Q.   Is  life  the  result  of  organization? 

A.  Life  is  not  the  result  of  organization,  but  organization 
is  the  result  of  life  ;  all  organisms  are  the  result  of  life.  All 
organized  entities,  whether  spiritual  or  material,  are  secondary 
to  the  life-principle  within  them.  Matter  and  spirit  are  co- 
existent and  co-equal :  one  is  the  passive,  the  other  the  active 
principle  in  nature.  But  the  God-principle  is  active  to  both, 
and  the  three  constitute  a  trinity. 

Q.  In  the  soul's  pre-existent  state,  does  it  reason  out  —  does 
it  reason  about  the  propriety  and  wisdom  of  being  incarnated 
into  an  earthl}  bod}^? 

A.  For  myself  only  can  I  answer.  I  have  no  memory  of 
a  pre-existent  state.  If  I  pre-existed  as  a  human  soul  in  time 
and  space,  I  have  no  knowledge  of  it ;  therefore  I  do  not 
know  whether  there  was  consciousness  within  the  soul  in  this 
state  of  pre-existence  or  not,  but  the  class  of  thinkers  in 
spirit-life  who  believe  in  the  soul's  eternal  past  teach  this : 
that  in  that  infinite  past  the  soul  has  been  incarnated  in  ex- 
ternal form  time  and  again,  swinging  like  a  pendulum  from 
the  innermost  universe  to  the  outermost,  and  conversely  from 
the  outermost  to  the  innermost,  which  is  the  life  divine.  They 
teach  that  the  human  soul  is  a  part  of  a  connected  series  in 
nature,  and  as  such,  that  it  obeys  the  universal  laws  of  move- 
ment, which,  as  we  said,  is  a  continuous  vibration  between 
the  innermost  and  outermost,  or  the  subjective  and  objective 
poles  of  universal  nature.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  I  have 
no  conscious  knowledge.  Still,  I  accept  and  believe  the  teach- 
ings of  those  ancients  upon  this  subject.     Unless  we  pcetulate 


94  IMMOETALITY. 

the  soul's  pre-existence,  then,  according  to  the  laws  of  thought, 
the  argument  for  the  soul's  immortality  would  be  materially 
weakened. 

Q.  Will  all  pre-existent  spirits  ultimately  be  incarnated 
into  earthly  bodies  for  experience? 

A.  This  school  of  thinkers  that  I  spoke  of  teach  that  all 
human  souls  pass  through  these  movements.  We  might  also 
presume  as  much,  since  there  is  nothing  in  nature  which 
stands  still.     Inertia  is  death ;  activity  is  life  and  unfoldment. 

Q.  Did  the  souls  of  animals  pre-exist,  and  if  so,  why  should 
they  not  have  a  past  existence  ? 

A.  The  higher  class  of  philosophers  in  spirit-life  teach  that 
they  did  not;  that  in  the  purely  animal  life  of  this  and  other 
planets  there  are  nothing  but  rudimental  conditions  and  struc- 
tures, which  eventually  form  a  basis  for  the  reception  of  the 
human  soul.  Animals  are  the  green  fruit  of  the  planet,  never 
ripened,  and  which  drop  from  the  stem  of  life's  tree  before 
maturity  is  attained.  Their  forms  are  imperfect,  an'^  imper- 
fection implies  destruction. 

Q.  Spirits  generally  unite  in  saying  that  tnere  are  birds» 
and  animals  in  spirit-life ;  what  are  your  reasons  for  teaching 
that  they  are  not  individualized  ? 

A.  I  likewise  agree  with  spirits  that  there  are  birds, 
beasts,  and  insects  in  the  spirit-life,  but  they  do  not  possess 
the  souls  of  those  that  existed  in  earth-life.  There  are  rocks, 
trees,  and  flowers  in  spirit-land,  but  they  are  not  the  spirits 
of  their  concrete  correspondence  on  earth,  but  they  are  pro- 
ductions resulting  from  the  action  of  laws  pertaining  to  the 
spirit-life.  In  consequence  of  imperfect  organizations,  ani- 
mals do  not  survive  the  dissolution  of  their  material  bodies. 

In  spirit-life  the  three  kingdoms  in  nature  exist  much  as 
they  do  in  your  material  world,  and  they  are  the  outcome  of 
the  same  original  course.  The  phenomena  of  crystallization, 
of  vegetable  growth  and  animal  production,  are  displayed  here 
much  after  the  same  manner  they  are  on  earth,  though  upoD 
a  higher  plane. 

Q.   Does  not  this  involve  a  loss  of  individuality? 


EXPERIENCES   THBOUGH  THE  HELLS   INTO  HEAVEN.      95 

A.  There  is  a  loss  of  the  individuality  in  one  sense  perhaps, 
but  no  loss  of  the  force  that  constituted  the  individual.  All 
these  forces  are  available  for  assimilation  into  higher  forms  of 
life  in  consequence  of  having  been  used  in  the  lower  forms. 

Q.  How  do  the  fruits,  flowers,  and  general  surroundings 
correspond  to  those  on  earth  ? 

A.  There  is  a  correspondence,  but  a  higher  degree  of  de- 
velopment, as  this  is  a  higher  sphere.  We  have  not  only 
types  of  life  similar  to  those  represented  on  earth,  but  there 
is  an  almost  illimitable  variety  of  forms  unknown  in  the  earth- 
life,  because  a  greater  variety  of  conditions  exists  in  the  spirit- 
world,  and  the  law  of  evolution  has  a  much  wider  range. 

Q.  Are  plants  and  animals  carried  through  solid  walls  into 
our  buildings? 

A.  It  is  impossible  to  give  you  an  understanding  of  the  law, 
because  it  involves  the  chemistry  of  unparticled  substances 
that  constitute  the  spiritual  universe.  The  spiritual  always 
dominates  the  material,  and  the  chemistry  of  the  spiritual 
is  entirely  superior  to  the  chemistry  of  the  material.  There- 
fore when  the  chemical  potencies  and  forces  of  spirit-life  are 
used,  they  can  overcome  and  set  aside  for  a  moment  the 
chemical  laws  of  physical  substances.  In  the  earth  you  have 
sixty  or  more  primary  elements,  and  their  combinations  con- 
stitute the  chemical  composition  of  the  globe  and  all  that  is 
thereon.  In  spirit-life  there  are  more  than  a  thousand  of 
these  elementary  forms  of  substance  recognized  in  the  chem- 
istry of  the  spirit,  and  their  combinations  are  so  intricate  and 
far-reaching  and  beautiful  that  it  requires  years  of  study 
and  the  deepest  penetration  of  thought  to  comprehend  them. 
The  phenomena  of  which  you  spoke  can  only  be  produced  by 
chemists  of  a  high  order  in  spirit-life  working  through  spirits 
of  a  lower  order  who  have  great  physical  power  and  nearness 
to  earth,  and  by  that  means  they  may  produce  these  results. 
It  is  impossible  to  explain  to  you  the  method,  because  you 
have  no  analogous  experiences.  The  phenomena  known  in 
your  chemistry  as  endosmose  and  exosmose  come  nearer  to 
this  than  any  phenomenon  in  physical  science. 


96  IMMORTALITY. 

Q.  If  flowers,  birds,  &c.,  are  taken  from  persons  in  earth- 
life  and  brought  to  spirit  seances,  is  it  not  a  sort  of  theft? 

A.  In  all  cases  care  is  observed  to  take  only  such  things  as 
will  be  no  material  loss  to  others.  Flowers  bloom  by  the 
wayside,  and  in  your  winter  time  the  tropics  abound  in  buds 
and  blossoms. 

Q.  Are  perverse  and  wicked  spirits  ever  arbitrarily  chained 
or  confined  for  a  season  ? 

A.  They  certainly  are,  and  especially  so  in  the  lower 
spheres.  And  then  they  occasionally  break  away  from  their 
surroundings,  to  follow,  haunt,  and  obsess  mortals,  sometimes 
producing  sickness  and  even  death.  Spirits  have  the  power 
to  heal  and  the  power  to  make  ill.  All  power  reduced  or 
traced  to  its  original  source  is  spirit-power.  Low  and  wicked 
spirits,  as  you  term  them,  are  frequently  guarded  by  the 
strong  magnetic  will  of  persons  in  spirit-life  superior  to  them, 
to  prevent  their  doing  wrong  to  others.  Human  beings  are 
coming  to  us  continually  from  the  earth-life  so  freighted  with 
revenge,  hatred,  malice,  and  all  the  bitter  passions  of  human- 
ity, that  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  on  the  part  of  the  higher 
intelligences,  to  arbitrarily  restrain  them,  because  they  are 
totally  inexperienced,  and  in  and  of  themselves  not  capable 
of  guiding  their  actions  to  any  good  result. 

Q.  Why  are  spirits  so  averse  to  giving  their  earthly  histo- 
ries, with  few  exceptions  ? 

A.  Many  persons  in  spirit-life,  when  they  look  back  upon 
their  earthly  existence,  see  in  it  so  much  that  is  weak  and 
childish,  if  not  positively  revolting,  that  they  do  not  desire 
others  to  look  upon  it.  It  is  a  painful  subject  to  them.  But 
the  time  comes  to  all  human  souls  when  it  is  necessary  for 
them  to  unveil  all  their  earth-life  to  the  clear  sunlight  of  the 
spirit-world  about  them,  for  by  so  doing  they  put  themselves 
in  accord  with  their  surroundings.  Unity  cannot  exist  where 
there  is  deception,  or  hiding  of  any  of  the  past  conditions  of 
life. 

Q.  By  what  process  of  reasoning  do  spirits  justify  them- 
selves in  coming  to  earth  under  false  names? 


EXPEBIENCES  THEOUGH  THE  HELLS  INTO   HEAVEN.      97 

A.  It  is  seldom  that  the  higher  class  of  spirits  give  their 
names,  and  the  lower  being  ashamed  of  their  earth-names  and 
earthly  life,  are  prone  to  assume  the  names  of  distinguished 
personages.  Moreover,  the  fault  frequently  lies  with  the  me- 
dium, who  will  readily  consent  to  be  controlled  by  a  spirit 
assuming  some  great  name,  but  who  would  utterly  refuse  to 
work  for  the  same  spirit  should  he  assume  his  real  name. 
There  is  that  degree  of  self-love  in  some  mediums  that  must 
be  gratified  in  order  to  use  them  as  instruments.  It  is  the 
fault  of  the  medium  almost  universally  that  these  false  names 
are  assumed.     But  there  is  no  justification  for  it  at  all. 

Q.  Do  you  take  any  interest  in  the  materialization  of 
spirits  ? 

A.  I  take  interest  in  all  classes  of  manifestations  of  spirits 
to  mortals,  but  the  more  advanced  in  spirit-life  are  gradually 
withdrawing  from  materializing  phenomena,  from  the  fact  that 
they  have  been  usurped  by  a  lower  class  of  spirits,  many  times 
controlling  and  permitting  their  mediums  to  present  their  own 
faces,  hands,  and  persons  under  the  guise  of  materialized  spir- 
its. But  there  is  a  higher  law  of  materialization  that  has  as 
yet  been  illustrated  in  few  instances.  It  is  where  those  grand 
souls  in  angel  life  draw  about  themselves  with  the  greatest 
intensity  the  physical  conditions  of  your  atmosphere  so  as  to 
make  themselves  visible  and  tangible  to  mortal  senses.  It  is 
only  within  the  power  of  very  few  persons  in  the  higher  life 
to  use  this  law  ;  but  as  the  world  ripens,  and  the  conditions  of 
the  planet  become  more  ethereally  balanced,  the  exhibition 
of  this  higher  power  of  materialization  will  become  more  fre- 
quent, until  ultimately  there  will  be  complete  materializations 
whenever  any  important  use  can  be  thereby  subserved. 

Q.  Is  not  a  broad,  liberal  Christian  Spiritualism  acceptable 
to  the  eyes  of  higher  spirits  and  angels  ? 

A.  From  my  understanding  of  the  word  Christian,  I  would 
approve  of  it ;  but  if  the  word  imports  a  sectarian,  arbitrary 
Spiritualism,  I  would  not.  As  there  is  great  danger  of  its 
being  so  construed,  it  would  be  better  to  leave  all  names  save 
the  one.  Spiritualism.  A  broad  and  liberal  Spiritualism  is 
7 


98  IMMORTALITY. 

acceptable  to  the  highest  angels  in  the  spirit-world,  but  they 
do  not  desire  that  there  should  be  any  creed  attached  to  the 
universal,  such  as  Spiritualism  is.  Christian  is  a  sect-name, 
indicating  only  one  department  of  human  effort  in  the  religious 
life,  and  one  that  is  particularly  marked  by  the  assumption 
that  it  is  the  only  saving  one ;  therefore  it  is  not  best  to 
trammel  the  beautiful  word  Spiritualism  with  the  shackles  of 
a  churchianic  name.  Although  the  Christ  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  behind  the  spiritual  movement  of  the  present  time,  it 
is  not  meet  that  it  should  have  the  Christian  title,  because  the 
celestial  angels  would  have  men  come  up  to  that  breadth  of 
thought  where  they  can  conceive  of  universal  ideas  of  reli- 
gion applicable  to  all  time,  breathing  through  all  space,  bring- 
ing to  every  human  being  in  God's  universe  the  knowledge 
that  the  same  laws  of  unitary  life  are  everywhere  operating. 

Q.  Do  you  approve  of  this  definition  of  Spiritualism,  "  To 
believe  in  God  as  the  Infinite  Spirit  Presence  of  the  Universe, 
to  hold  conscious  communion  with  spirits  and  angels,  and  to 
live  a  true,  noble,  spiritual  Christ-like  life  —  these  constitute 
a  Spiritualist"? 

A.   I  do. 

Q.  Do  you  believe  it  possible  for  a  medium  to  be  disinte- 
grated or  dematerialized  in  cabinets  during  stances  ? 

A.  I  reply  in  the  negative.  I  do  not,  however,  claim  to 
have  all  knowledge  upon  this  subject.  I  have  never  seen  a 
thinking,  conscious  human  being  dematerialized  ;  neither  have 
I  conversed  with  an  intelligent  spirit  who  has  witnessed  such 
a  phenomenon.  Absolute  dematerialization  would  be  death  ; 
and  after  the  disintegration  of  the  particles  and  substances 
constituting  the  two  bodies,  with  the  severance  of  the  silver 
cord,  there  could  be,  so  it  seems  to  me,  no  restoration.  The 
spiritual  man  has  fled,  and  could  no  more  return  to  gather 
up,  and  live  in  the  body  again,  than  the  freed  bird  could  re- 
turn to  and  dwell  once  more  in  the  crushed  shell,  or  the  oak 
return  to  its  acorn  life.  This  idea  of  mediumistic  demateriali- 
zation may  have  been  taught  by  designing  spirits  to  cover  the 
paanifestations  which  they  profess  to  produce.     That  flowers 


EXPERIENCES   THROUGH   THE  HELLS   INTO  HEAVEN.       99 

are  brought  through  walls  is  no  violation  of  the  known  laws 
of  vital  chemistry.  I  do  not  speak  dogmatically  upon  this 
subject,  but  simply  refer  to  my  personal  observations  and  ex- 
periences. 

Q.  Are  spirits,  invisible  to  the  physical  eye,  photographed 
in  art-galleries,  as  claimed  by  some  ? 

A.  They  are,  although  only  under  certain  circumstances ; 
much  of  what  is  presented  to  the  world  coming  from  this  di- 
rection is  but  the  counterfeit  of  the  genuine.  One  main  argu- 
ment against  this  is  that  "  that  wl:ich  is  invisible  cannot  be 
photographed."  This  is  the  view  of  our  own  medium,  and  I 
am  speaking  now  in  opposition  to  his  opinions,  as,  for  illustra- 
tion, there  are  certain  chemicals,  certain  gases  that  are  unseen 
by  the  physical  e3'e,  yet  are  sufficiently  tangible  in  their  inter- 
vention between  the  ray?  of  the  sun  as  to  produce  an  image. 
The  chemical  ray  is  invisible,  but  the  particles  of  the  atmos- 
phere are  set  in  motion  by  it,  and  cast  a  shadow.  ...  If  you 
dissolve  sulphate  of  quinia  in  water,  and  write  with  this  on 
a  clean  white  sheet  of  paper,  when  it  has  dried  you  can  see 
no  trace  of  it,  but  if  you  place  this  before  the  camera  it  will 
appear  plainly.  There  are  two  methods  of  spirit  photography. 
In  one  the  spirit  stands  before  the  camera,  partially  material- 
ized, enough  so  to  affect  and  reflect  the  chemical  ray,  which 
is  invisible  to  the  human  eye.  The  other  method  is  where 
the  s[)irit  artist  presents  the  picture  directly  upon  the  plate  of 
the  photographer  without  the  spirit's  presence. 

Q.  In  consequence  of  the  impostures  practiced  in  some 
stances,  have  not  the  higher  spirits  largely  abandoned  them  ? 

A.  They  have  for  the  time  being.  And  yet  through  all 
this  imperfection  and  fraud  there  will  come  an  understanding 
of  many  of  those  occult  laws  which  unite  mortal  life  to  spirit 
life.  We  urge  you  to  study  these  phenomena  carefully,  and 
endeavor  to  eliminate  as  far  as  possible  the  fraudulent  from 
the  genuine,  for  by  so  doing  you  will  not  only  ultimately  at- 
tain to  conditions  where  ancient  spirits  can  materialize,  but 
you  can  have  phenomena  or  a  subdued  light  of  an  order  dif 
ferent  from  anything  that  can  be  obtained  in  the  light,  and 


100  IMMORTALITY. 

exceedingly  useful  to  those  inclined  to  doubt  the  reality  of 
spirit  existence.  A  subdued  light  is  almost  indispensable  for 
spirit  friends  who  have  recently  left  their  mortal  for  their 
immortal  homes. 

Q.  Is  there  not  great  injury  done,  leading  to  obsessions  and 
intianity,  by  the  indiscriminate  and  promiscuous  blendings  of 
mediumistic  magnetisms  ? 

A.  I  reply  emphatically  in  the  affirmative.  It  seems  inci- 
dental to  the  present  unfolding  of  mediumistic  conditions 
that  this  should  take  place ;  because  mediums  themselves  do 
not  understand,  neither  in  many  cases  do  the  communicating 
spirits  themselves  comprehend,  the  laws  involved  in  their  own 
operations.  Hence  there  is  this  ill-adapted  and  inharmonious 
mixing  of  mediumistic  auras  and  conditions  that  often  lead  to 
deleterious  results.  These  not  only  seriously  affect  the  me- 
diums, but  occasionally  the  spirits,  who  become  magnetically 
chained  to  them.  It  sometimes  happens  that  these  spirits 
cannot  break  the  connection  that  they  have  persistently  estab- 
lished with  their  mediums.  In  such  cases  there  should  be  a 
united  effort  between  a  circle  of  good,  earnest  magnetic  mor- 
tals in  earth  life,  and  a  similar  band  of  spirits  in  spirit  life, 
to  aid  these  parties  in  severing  the  unwise  sympathy  so 
firmly  established.  Many  are  too  fond  of  marvelous  manifes- 
tations. They  are  given  to  wonder.  Spirit  communion  is  a 
means,  not  an  end.  Better  far  for  mortals  to  culture  and 
enrich  their  own  spirits  than  to  perpetually  seek  for  strange 
and  astounding  marvels  I 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  a  large  proportion  of  the 
insane  in  the  lunatic  asj^lums  are  persons  who  are  either  ob- 
sessed by  spirits,  or  sympathetically  affected  by  the  discordant 
conditions  which  are  projected  from  the  lower  spheres  of 
spirit-life  upon  the  earth  plane.  Spiritual  stances  should  be 
conducted  in  a  quiet  and  orderly  manner.  They  should  be 
opened  by  invocations  and  prayers,  and  the  end  sought  shoulo 
be  moral  growth  and  divine  use. 


THE   RED   MAN'S   TESTIMONY.  lOl 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE   RED   man's   TESTIMONY. 

Powhattari's   Spirit   Home^    tlirougli   the   3Iediumsh.ip   of 
Dr.  E.   C.  Dunn. 

"  Out  spake  the  patriarch  pray  and  old; 
The  love  of  war  in  his  heart  was  cold : 
•  I  heard  in  midni<Tht's  whispering  breeze, 
In  the  low  murmuring  of  the  trees, 
And  in  the  war-bird's  chastened  cry, 
A  mighty  voice  from  yonder  sky : 
"  Man  lives  but  once,"  the  Spirit  said ; 
"  Pale  Face  is  brother  to  the  Red." 
Bury  the  hatchet, 

Bury  it  low ; 
Under  the  greensward, 
Under  the  snow.'  " 

I  DO  not  know  the  origin  of  the  Indian  races.  Pale-faced 
spirits  do  not  think  alike  al)0ut  it.  Indian  himself  thinka 
that  many  millions  of  moons  ago  they  lived  in  northern  and 
eastern  countries  —  what  you  call  Asia.  They  came  to  this 
country  on  dry  land.  They  found  tribes  and  races  here,  and 
many  wars  followed.  They  had  no  books,  as  white  men 
have,  but  they  cut  their  histories  on  rocks,  and  retained  them 
in  legends.  My  ancestors,  as  you  would  call  them,  were 
more  agricultural  than  hunting  tribes.  They  raised  corn  and 
a  kind  of  wild  rice.  The  chief  was  the  father  of  his  tribe. 
He  did  not  have  many  squaws.  The  pale-faced  man  does  not 
tell  the  truth  about  this.  He  only  took  care  of  the  old  and 
the  poor  squaws.  Each  Indian  owned  the  ground  he  culti- 
vated while  cultivating  it.  When  he  stopped  doing  this,  the 
land  belonged  to  the  tribe  again.  Some  tribes  burned  their 
dead ;  others  put  them  up  into  trees,  to  be  wasted  by  the 


102  IMMORTALITY. 

elements ;  and  others  still  buried  them  in  a  sitting  position, 
with  their  blankets,  shells,  war-clubs,  and  corn  to  feed  them, 
as  they  started  for  the  heavenly  hunting-grounds 

They  had  a  sacied  and  secret  language,  known  only  to 
chiefs  and  medicine-men.  Their  hiiitory  was  largely  in  this 
language.  The  symbols  of  serpents,  birds,  insects,  curves, 
angles,  and  hieroglyphical  characters,  are  mere  representa- 
tives of  this  language.  Wars,  in  those  ancient  times,  were 
very  few,  because  war  councils  were  arbitrations,  and  wise 
chiefs  sought  to  avoid  wars  with  other  tribes 

Q.  Powhattan,  tell  me  what  you  are  doing  these  days,  and 
describe  to  me  your  spirit  home  ? 

A.  Indian  has  not  been  visiting,  has  not  been  idle,  has  not 
been  talking  ;  —  pale-faces  talk  too  much.  I  have  been  away 
toward  the  sunset,  where  the  red  man  is  on  the  war-path  -- 
have  been  there  to  counsel  peace  ;  have  been  there  to  receive 
the  spirits  of  red  men  killed  by  the  pale-faces,  and  to  keep 
them  from  returning  to  injure  those  who  injured  them. 

Q.  Will  not  our  armies  in  the  West  soon  conquer  all  the 
Indian  tribes  ? 

A.  Never!  Indians  are  never  conquered  when  they  fight 
for  the  right  —  when  they  fight  for  their  lands,  for  their 
homes,  and  for  the  graves  of  their  fathers.  No;  they  will  be 
exterminated,  but  conquered  —  never  !  Indians  are  not 
afraid  to  die  —  they  are  not  children  —  they  do  not  whine 
when  shot  down  by  white  men ;  for  they  know  they  go  to 
the  hunting-grounds  of  their  fathers. 

Q.  Powhattan,  describe  your  spirit  home,  the  direction 
you  take  towards  it  when  you  leave  the  medium.  If  j'ou 
cannot  convey  your  ideas  fully  in  our  language,  get  the 
spirit  Aaron  Knight  to  assist  you ;  he  is  very  kind,  as  you 
know. 

A.  Knight  spirit  is  here.  Indians  are  the  children  of  na- 
ture. They  were  guided  on  earth  by  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars.  They  were  keen  observers.  The  sun  was  to  us  a 
symbol  of  the  Great  Spirit.  We  follow  the  setting  sun. 
The  sun  is  the  Indian  ;    the  moon  is  the  squaw  ;  the  stars 


THE  RED  man's   TESTIMONY.  103 

are  their  children,  and  the  fixed  stars  the  warriors.  We  con- 
tinue to  be  Indians  in  the  spirit  world.  We  mingle  with 
white  spirits,  and  many  of  our  blankets  and  robes  are  whiter 
than  theirs.  I  was  a  chief  on  earth,  and  I  took  my  hate  of 
the  white  man  with  me  to  spirit  life.  I  would  not  see  him 
for  a  long,  long  time.  But  once  I  went  with  an  old  and 
brighter  Indian  spirit  than  I  was,  where  there  was  a  peace 
council,  where  there  was  white  men  in  it;  one  of  these,  Wil 
liam  Penn,  in  shining  dress,  and  a  sunshine  face,  came  to  me 
with  a  white  plume  in  his  hand.  He  said  he  loved  the  Indian, 
and  he  put  his  lips  on  my  forehead.  I  turned  round  and 
wept,  for  I  was  too  proud  to  have  him  see  my  tears.  I  loved 
this  white  spirit  —  he  made  my  heart  soft.  I  love  all  the 
pale-faced  spirits  now,  and  that  is  why  I  come  to  do  them 
good. 

When  I  leave  this  medium,  I  go  westward,  up,  and  awaj 
in  the  distance,  to  my  spirit  home.  I  am  a  chief  there  now. 
but  the  Indians  stay  with  me  because  they  love  me,  and  like 
my  counsels  to  them.  In  our  spirit  world  there  is  one  chief— 
the  Great  Spirit  Chief  over  all.  We  do  not  see  him,  but  we 
feel  him.  .  .  . 

But  you  ask  about  my  spirit  home,  and  the  way  I  go  to  get 
there.  I  go  almost  as  quick  as  you  think  —  and  go  first  to  a 
big  forest  of  stately  trees,  the  homes  of  beavers  and  squirrels 
and  birds.  In  this  forest,  with  its  open  spots  here  and  there, 
nerds  of  buffaloes,  flocks  of  deer,  elks,  and  light-footed  gazelles 
sport  without  being  interrupted  by  bush  or  prickly  bramble. 
The  silky  grass  that  grows  beneath  the  branches,  ever  green 
and  nutritious,  feeds  the  game  that  roams  the  forest.  Deep- 
flowing  streams  of  water,  rolling  through  woodlands,  bound- 
ing over  precipices,  leaping  down  dizzy  heights,  and  dashing 
on  rocks  below,  are  broken  into  spray  that,  rising  on  the 
balmy  air,  and  floating  like  perpetual  showers,  keep  fresh  and 
green  the  leaves  and  grasses  and  flowers,  that  grow  in  the 
forest  wilds  of  the  red  man's  home. 

Upon  a  mossy  bank,  near  the  shore  of  Crystal  River,  and 
in   full  view  of   an   ever    murmuring   waterfall,  stands   the 


104  IMMORTALITY. 

wigwam  of  Powhattau.  The  background  is  built  up  of  tow- 
ering mountains,  dotted  with  springs  and  rills  and  majestio 
trees,  the  waving  branches  of  which  make  music  in  the  In- 
dian's home.  His  wigwam,  cone-shaped,  and  made  of  sub- 
stances corresponding  to  furs,  is  constructed  around  a  mon- 
ster oak.  His  carpet,  in  appearance,  is  made  of  the  skins  of 
birds  of  golden  plumage.  His  bed,  for  repose  and  reflection,  is 
of  softest  down.  His  weapons  of  warfare  hang  upon  the  wig- 
wam's outer  side,  as  relics  of  the  almost  forgotten  past.  His 
books  are  the  trees,  the  mountains,  and  the  sailing  clouds. 
His  council-fires  are  the  fires  of  peace,  and  they  burn  perpet- 
ually upon  the  altar  of  his  soul.  The  incense  that  arises 
therefrom  is  love  to  the  Great  Spirit,  and  love  to  all  the  tribes 
and  races  of  humanity.  The  deer  and  the  wild  game  that 
were  once  his  prey,  are  now  his  companions  and  his  friends. 
The  war-paint  was  long  ago  washed  away  from  his  calm  sun- 
lit face.  His  crimson  war-feathers  were  changed  to  plumes 
of  crystal  whiteness.  His  flexible  bow  was  unstrung,  and  the 
untamed,  untutored  Indian  of  the  forest,  no  longer  a  savage, 
has  become  a  lover  of  humanity,  and  a  trustworthy  healer 
and  teacher  in  earth  and  spirit  life. 

Nellie,  a  little  Indian  GrirVs  Quaint  Description  of  her  Home 
and  Employments^  through  the  MediumsTiip  of  Mrs.  Jennie  S. 
Rudd. 

I'm  glad  to  come  and  talk  to  a  preaching  man  with  silver 
tongue.  I  shall  meet  you  when  you  come  up  top,  and  will 
help  cover  your  chair  with  pretty  flowers.  All  the  good 
things  you  say  and  do  send  up  material  for  us  to  use.  Some- 
times when  you  speak,  such  big  spirits  come  that  they  scare 
me  and  almost  cover  me  up.  I  came  up  to  this  top-world 
when  I  was  four  years  old.  I  can't  remember  much  that 
happened  just  after  I  was  dead,  but  I  know  that  I  talked  to 
my  mother,  and  she  would  not  answer  me.  Everything 
looked  so  strange.  I  saw  a  little  girl  lying  on  the  big  mat 
that  looked  like  me ;  but  she  would  not  speak  nor  move,  and 
I  did  not  understand  why  they  stood  and  cried  over  her,  and 


THE  BED  man's  TESTIMONT.  10^ 

called  her  Nellie ;  and  then  I  cried,  and  kept  crying  till  a 
beautiful  lady  came,  and  taking  me  in  her  white  arms  through 
the  clouds,  we  came  to  a  nice  garden  where  lots  of  little  chil- 
dren were  playing.  Among  these  happy  children  was  one 
lady  dressed  in  pure  white.  They  said  her  name  was  Jose- 
phine ;  and  she  wore  a  crown  in  your  world,  which  up  here 
she  called  a  cross.  She  was  trying,  they  told  me,  to  throw  it 
off  by  doing  good  to  everybody.  She  taught  the  children  to 
sing: 

"  If  the  crown  you  would  wear,  the  cross  you  must  bear." 

But  crowns  up  here  don't  mean  what  your  queens  wear,  but 
crowns  of  virtue  and  love.  Everything  was  pretty  here,  but 
I  did  not  feel  happy  till  grandpa  came.  He  took  me  in  his 
arms  and  bore  me  to  a  lovely  garden,  which  had  a  beautiful 
house  in  it,  filled  with  flowers,  books,  statues,  and  everything 
to  please  children.  There  was  music  here,  too ;  and  some  of 
the  great  spirits  came  and  looked  at  my  face  and  head,  and 
said  I  had  the  mark  of  the  messenger.  I  have  since  learned 
that  they  were  examining  me  and  consulting  what  mission  I 
was  best  designed  to  fulfil.  They  brought  me  to  this  lady 
medium,  taught  me  how  to  put  my  mind  upon  her  and  con- 
trol her;  and  ever  since  I  have  been  the  spirit-messenger  for 
her  band. 

I've  only  been  up  in  this  top-world  a  few  years.  I  live  in 
a  pleasant  house,  which  mamma  calls  "  Fairview."  Other 
spirits  call  it  "  Mount  Peaceful."  I  did  not  make  the  house,  and 
nobody  builds  them  here  as  you  do  in  your  world.  They  tell 
me  that  good  deeds  form  the  building  materials  ;  but  I  cannot 
understand  that.  Little  delicate  vines  creep  all  over  the 
house  that  I  live  in.  The  room  that  I  like  best  opens  on  to 
the  lawn,  which  slopes  down  towards  the  lake.  Near  the 
lake  is  a  bubbling  fountain.  It  looks  like  a  big  tulip,  with  a 
big  bird  in  the  center ;  and  though  the  water  covers  the  bird, 
it  shines  just  as  bright  as  the  sun.  We  Indians  call  this  lake 
Wa-te-ma,  and  it  means  truth.  We  sail  on  this  lake,  and 
the  fish  come  up  to  our  hands  and  let  us  pet  them.  .  .  .  They 
call  me  the  messenger  girl,  and  my  work  is  to  take  spirits 


106  IMMORTALITY. 

from  the  earth,  and  sometimes  return  with  them  when  the]- 
can't  find  the  way.  I  carry  messages  from  the  medium's 
band  of  spirits  to  other  spirits.  I  have  been  with  great 
spirits  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  and  I  tried  to  carry  them  sun- 
shine and  light;  and  I  told  them  how  bright  it  was  where  I 
lived;  and  I've  tried  to  help  them  come  up  and  see  our  lake 
and  flowers  and  the  blue  skies.  I  can  tell  the  bad  spirits  by 
the  dark  light  around  them.  Do  you  know,  Papa  Peebles, 
that  there's  no  darkness  in  my  country  ?  It  is  more  like  the 
soft  bright  moonlight  than  like  your  sun.  We  have  our  times 
of  rest,  but  we  keep  thinking  while  we're  resting.  On  our 
trees  there  are  fruits  ripe  and  unripe  at  the  same  time,  and 
the  flowers  that  bloom  do  not  die  as  yours  do.  I  can't  ex- 
plain things  to  you  as  I  want  to.  All  the  big  Indians  love 
you,  papa,  very  much,  because  3'ou  talk  good  words  about 
them,  and  call  them  your  "red  brothers."  One  tall  Indian 
spirit,  wearing  a  sliining  blanket,  is  now  by  you  ;  he  says  he 
long  ago  washed  the  war-paint  off  from  his  face,  broke  his 
arrows,  unstrung  his  bow,  and  put  white  feathers  in  his  hair. 
He  is  a  peace  Indian,  and  when  he  is  not  with  you  to  keep 
you  well  and  strong,  he  is  with  the  Indians  and  the  white 
men,  away  off  towards  the  sun-set,  trying  to  make  them  love 
one  another  and  be  happy.  But  I  must  go.  When  you  come 
up  top,  I  will  have  on  my  best  shining  blankets  and  be  there 
to  meet  you. 

Coacoochee,  and  his  Description  of  his  Spirit  Sister's  Appearance. 

"  My  sister  died  suddenly.  I  was  on  a  bear  hunt,  and  seated  by  my  camp-fire  alone. 
I  beard  a  strange  noise.  It  was  something  like  a  voice  which  told  me  to  go  to  her. 
The  camp  was  some  distance,  but  I  took  my  rifle  and  started.  The  night  was  dark 
and  gloomy.  The  wolves  howled  around  mc  as  I  went  from  hammock  to  hammock. 
Sounds  often  came  to  my  ear;  I  thought  she  was  speaking  to  me.  At  daylight  I 
reached  her  camp ;  she  was  dead, 

"  When  hunting  some  time  after  with  my  brother  Otulkee,  I  sat  alone  by  the  side  of 
a  large  oak.  In  the  moss  hanging  over  me  I  heard  strange  sounds.  I  tried  to  sleep, 
but  could  not.  I  felt  myself  moving,  and  thought  I  went  far  above  to  a  new  country, 
where  all  was  bright  and  happy.  I  saw  clear  water,  ponds,  rivei-s,  and  prairies,  on 
which  the  sun  never  sets.  All  was  gi-eeu ;  the  grass  grew  high,  and  the  deer  stood  in 
the  midst  of  it  looking  at  me.  I  then  saw  a  small  white  cloud  approaching,  and 
when  just  before  me,  out  of  it  came  my  twin  sister,  dressed  in  white,  and  covered 
with  bright  silver  ornaments.     Ucr  black  hair,  which  I  had  often  braided,  bung  down 


THE  RED  man's  TESTIMONY.  lOt 

her  back.  She  clasped  me  around  the  neck  and  said,  '  Coacoochee,  Coacoochee.'  I 
shook  with  fear.  I  knew  her  voice,  but  could  not  speak.  With  one  hand  she  gave 
me  a  string  of  white  beads;  in  the  other  she  held  a  cup  sparklinjr  with  pui-e  water, 
which  she  said  came  from  the  spring  of  the  Great  Spirit,  and  if  I  would  drink  from  it, 
I  should  return  and  live  with  her  for  ever. 

"  As  I  drank  she  sang  the  peace  song  of  the  Seminoles  and  danced  around  me.  She 
had  silver  bells  on  her  feet,  which  made  a  loud  noise.  Taking  from  her  bosom  some- 
thing, I  know  not  what,  she  laid  it  before  me,  when  a  bright  light  streamed  far  above 
us.  She  then  took  me  by  the  hand  and  said,  '*  All  is  peace."  I  wanted  to  ask  for 
others,  but  she  shook  her  head,  moved  her  hand,  stepped  into  the  cloud,  and  was  gone ! 
The  fire  she  had  made  had  not  gone  out.  All  was  silent.  I  was  sorry  that  I  could  not 
have  said  more  to  her.  I  felt  myself  sinking  until  I  came  to  the  earth,  where  I  met 
my  brother  Otulkee.  He  had  been  seeking  me,  and  was  alarmed  at  my  absence;  hav- 
ing found  my  rifle  where  he  last  saw  me  asleep.  I  told  him  where  I  had  been,  and 
showed  him  the  beads.  These  beads  were  stolen  from  me  when  I  was  in  prison  at 
St.  Augustine.  At  certain  periods  of  the  moon,  when  I  had  those  beads,  I  could  see 
the  spirit  of  my  sister.  I  may  be  buried  in  the  earth,  or  sunk  in  the  water,  but  I  shall 
go  to  her  and  live  with  her.  Game  is  abundant  there,  and  there  the  white  man  is 
never  seen.  .  .  . 

*'  I  did  not  love  the  white  man  when  in  my  body.  He  was  my  enemy.  He  wanted 
our  lands.  He  deceived  us.  He  killed  our  pappooses,  and  ploughed  up  the  graves  ol 
our  fathers.  I  never  wanted  to  sec  him  in  the  hunting-grounds  of  the  Great  Spirit, 
where  my  sister  had  gone,  and  where  I  am  going.  But  I've  changed  my  mind  now  — 
all  white  men  were  not  like  the  pale-face-  that  made  war  upon  the  Seminoles.  There 
were  some  good  white  men.  I  have  met  them  in  my  spirit  home.  I  have  taken  Ihem 
into  my  canoe,  and  borne  them  over  the  lakes ;  and  I  have  come  back  with  them  to 
the  earth  to  help  them  control  and  do  good  to  the  white  men.  I  love  them  now,  and 
try  to  forget  all  the  wrongs  they  did  to  us.  I've  met  my  sister.  Her  blankets  are 
shining  as  gold,  and  her  rings  and  her  shells  are  as  bright  as  the  sun.  I  am  a  messen- 
ger now,  and  am  happy  in  doing  good  to  everybody." 

Materialization   of  Indian  Spirits  :    A  Communication  from 
a.  T.  Sproat,  a  Shaker. 

"  Ke-che  Be-zhe-kee,  or  Big  Buffalo,  as  he  was  called  by  the  Americans,  was  at  that 
time  chief  of  that  band  of  Ojibway  Indians  who  dwelt  on  the  southwest  shores  of  Lake 
Superior,  and  were  best  known  by  the  name  of  the  '  Lake  Indians.'  He  was  wise  and 
sagacious  in  council,  a  great  orator,  and  was  much  reverenced  by  the  Indians  for  his 
supposed  intercourse  with  the  Man-i-toes,  or  spirits,  from  whom  they  believed  he  de- 
rived much  of  his  eloquence  and  wisdom  in  governing  the  affairs  of  the  tribe. 

"  In  the  summer  of  1836,  his  only  son,  a  young  man  of  rare  promise,  suddenly  sick- 
ened and  died.  The  old  chief  was  almost  inconsolable  for  his  loss,  and,  as  a  token  of 
his  affection  for  his  son,  had  him  dressed  and  laid  in  the  grave  in  the  same  militaiy 
coat,  together  with  the  sword  and  epaulets,  which  he  had  received  a  few  months  before 
as  a  present  from  the  Great  Father  at  Washington.  He  also  had  placed  beside  him  his 
favorite  dog,  to  be  his  companion  on  his  journey  to  the  land  of  souls. 

"  One  morning,  a  few  months  after  his  death,  the  old  chief  came  to  my  wigwam,  his 
step  light  and  elastic  like  a  child's,  his  form  erect,  and  his  face  ligliled  up  as  if  he  had 
just  received  some  new  and  joyful  intelligence. 

"  '  I  have  seen  him,'  he  said ;  '  I  have  seen  him  whom  we  mourned  as  dead !  I  have 
seen  him,  and  he  is  still  alive ! '  '  Seen  him !  when  ? '  I  asked.  '  Yesterday,  in  the  Me- 
ta-wa  (sacred  dance).     We  were  all  assembled  together  in  the  great  dancing-lodge  ol 


108  IMMORTALITY. 

the  chiefs,  to  worship  before  the  Great  Spirit,  and  On-wi  came  there  and  joined  us.' 
•  What !  in  your  dance  before  the  Great  Spirit  ?  Did  you  speak  to  him  ? '  '  We  did ;  and 
he  spoke  to  us.'  '  What  did  ho  say  ? '  '  He  said  it  was  weakness  for  us  to  mourn  for 
him.  He  had  gone  to  the  happy  huntinj^-grounds,  far  better  than  these  on  the  cold 
shores  of  the  lake.  He  mentioned  some  of  those  whom  he  had  seen,  particularly  Man- 
i-bo-zho  and  Ah-ke-wain-ze,  who  had  welcomed  him  there.*  *  Did  he  join  with  you  in 
the  dance?'  'He  did.  We  all  danced  before  the  Great  Spirit.  On-wi  danced  with  us. 
His  step  was  lijjht  as  a  fawn's ;  his  face  was  brijjht  as  the  sky  overhead.  I  wish  you  could 
have  seen  him.  It  made  our  hearts  glad  and  joj'ful  as  the  birds  in  spring.  After  the 
dance  we  all  sat  down  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  together.'  '  But  how  do  you  know 
it  was  On-wi  whom  you  saw  ?  May  it  not  have  been  some  one  of  the  tribe  who  coun- 
terfeited him,  with  his  face  painted,  with  the  sacred  emblems  which  you  wear  in  the 
dance  ? '  '  Did  I  not  mark  his  form,  his  features,  his  cveiT  look  ?  Was  he  not  dressed 
in  the  very  coat  I  gave  him,  a  present  from  the  Great  Father  at  Washington  ?  Who 
else  in  all  the  tribe  has  a  coat  like  that  ?  How  then  could  I  be  deceived  ?*  '  And  you 
—  eveiy  one  of  you  —  saw  him  ? '  '  Evciy  one  of  us.  Ask  the  aged  men,  and  they  will 
tell  you.  The  wisest  men  of  the  tribe  were  there.  Could  they,  too,  be  deceived .' 
Have  they  got  eyes,  and  do  not  see  straight  foi-ward  ?  Have  they  got  ears,  and  do  not 
hear  what  is  spoken  to  them  ?  Ask  them,  and  they  will  tell  you  the  truth.  Their 
tongues  are  not  hung  in  the  middle,  speaking  lies  at  botu  snds,  like  the  pale-faces. 
The  toes  of  their  feet  do  not  turn  outward,  so  that  they  walk  two  ways  at  once,  like 
them.  They  keep  straight  forward  in  the  path.  Ask  them,  and  they  will  tell  you  the 
truth.' 

"I  did  ask  them,  and  heard  from  them  the  same  report  brought  to  me  by  the  old 
chief  concerning  his  son.  For  many  days  it  was  the  theme  of  conversation  in  every 
wigwam  of  the  camp.  The  old  men  spoke  of  it  in  an  undertone,  with  their  heads 
bowed  as  if  in  reverence ;  and  one  daj-,  while  walking  through  the  camp,  I  saw  Wah- 
chu9-co,  the  great  seer  of  the  tribe,  standing  amidst  a  group  of  earnest  listeners,  and, 
with  a  great  burst  of  eloquence,  telling  them  how  Ke-che  Man-i-to  made  the  two 
worlds  round,  like  the  sun,  for  so  the  spirits  had  taught  him ;  and  taking  a  piece  of 
birch  bark,  and  di-awing  on  it  two  spheres  touching  each  other,  he  pictured  to  them 
whole  bands  of  joyous  spirits  passing  from  one  to  the  other,  thus  bringing  together  the 
inhabitants  of  the  seen  and  unseen  worlds." 

"  Here  bring  the  last  gifls !  and  with  these 
The  last  lament  be  said ; 
Let  all  that  please  and  yet  may  please 
Be  buried  with  the  dead. 

The  paint  that  warriors  love  to  use, 

Place  here  within  his  hand, 
That  he  may  shine  with  ruddy  hoes 

Amid  the  spirit  land." 


EVIL  SPEBITS,  THEIB  PLJLNS,  DOINGS,  AND  DESTINIES.     105 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

EVIL  SPIRITS,  THEIR  PLANS,   THEIR   DOINGS,   AND  THEIR 
DESTINIES. 

"  For  they  are  the  spirita  of  devils  working  miracles,  which  go  forth  unto  the  kingi 
of  the  earth."  Kev.  xvi.  14. 

"  Beloved,  believe  not  every  spirit,  but  try  the  spirits  whether  they  arc  of  God." 

Joitn's  Epistle. 

"  I  have  been  permitted  to  look  into  the  Hells  and  see  what  kind  of  places  they  are. 
Some  appear  like  holes  in  rocks ;  others,  like  coverts  of  wild  beasts  in  woods ;  and 
others,  like  vaulted  caverns  and  hidden  chambers,  such  as  are  seen  in  mines.  In  some 
Hells  there  appear  rude  cottages,  which  in  some  places  form  lanes  and  streets.  With- 
in the  houses  infernal  spirits  engage  in  perpetual  brawls,  in  blows,  and  butchery,  while 
the  streets  are  infested  with  robbers.  .  .  .  The  Hells  abound  in  foul  smells,  cadaverous, 
stercoraceous,  noxious,  and  putrid,  in  which  evil  spirits  dwell,  as  do  some  animals,  in 
rank  odors.  Several  times  I  have  been  let  down  into  Hell,  that  I  might  witness  the 
torment  there.  For  my  safety  I  was,  as  it  were,  sunounded  by  a  column  of  Angelic 
Spirits,  which  I  perceived  as  a  wall  of  brass.  Whilst  there,  I  heard  miserable  lam- 
entations; they  were  in  a  state  of  despair,  saying  they  believed  their  torments  would 
be  for  ever.    It  was  giantcd  me  to  comfort  them."  Swedenboro. 

Stripped  of  staff  and  scrip,  relieved  of  all  externals,  we 
enter  the  future  state  of  existence  the  real  men  and  women 
we  are^  bearing  with  us  the  plans,  purposes,  achievements, 
and  deeds  done  as  records.  Dropping  the  earthly  garment 
does  not  change  moral  character.  Sin  is  deeper  than  the  epi- 
dermis. A  night's  sleep  does  not  transform  the  sinful  into 
angels,  nor  does  a  walk  through  a  college  make  a  philosopher 
of  a  boor. 

William  Denton  wisely  said :  "  The  miser  returns  cursing 
the  fatal  appetite  which  binds  him  in  the  metallic  chain  forged 
by  his  own  avarice ;  the  sensualist  lives  in  the  agonizing  re- 
trospect of  lost  delights,  for  which  the  nature  of  spiritual 
existence  furnishes  no  satisfaction." 


llO  IMMORTALITY. 

A.  J.  Davis,  in  his  "  Diakka,"  admits  that  there  are  spirits 
"  morally  deficient  and  affectionally  unclean  ;  "  that  their  chief 
business  in  this  world  is  "jugglery  and  trickery,  witicisms, 
invariably  victimizing  others ;  secretly  tormenting  mediums, 
causing  them  to  exaggerate  in  speech  and  to  falsify  by  acts ; 
unlocking  and  unbolting  the  street-doors  of  your  bosom  and 
memory,  pointing  your  feet  into  wrong  paths,  and  far  more." 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  a  few  spiritualists  —  and  their 
numbers  are  growing  fewer,  and  their  shadows  less  —  con- 
tend that  no  evil  extends  beyond  this  life,  thus  making 
death  a  sieve,  sifting  out  all  gross  substances,  and  virtually 
transforming  depravity  into  purity  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 
The  idea  is  more  pleasant  than  truthful.  If  there  are  evil- 
minded  men,  living  and  dying  such,  there  must  necessarily  be 
evil  minded  spirits. 

Facts,  as  related  to  mediumship,  prove  the  existence  of  evil 
spirits.  The  logic  of  the  matter  stands  thus :  Good  presup- 
poses evil  as  the  affirmative  does  the  negative,  as  the  thesis 
does  the  antithesis.  And  evil  is  the  direct  opposite  of  good, 
apostasy  from  it,  and  deserves  disciplinary  punishment.  .  .  . 
A  band  of  brigands  organize,  elect  a  head  officer  —  a  king  — 
as  in  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  Greece,  Italy,  or  Spain.  This 
becomes  a  kingdom  of  evil,  diffusing  a  deleterious  moral  ma- 
laria. And  so  are  there  similar  kingdoms  and  principalities 
in  the  spirit-world.  The  mediumistic  Paul  referred  to  these 
when  he  wrote :  "  For  we  wrestle  not  against  flesh  and  blood, 
but  against  principalities,  against  powers,  against  the  rulere 
of  the  darkness  of  this  world,  and  against  wicked  spirits  in 
high  places." 

The  late  William  Howitt,  after  referring  to  the  experiences 
of  the  spirit  Hornung  in  these  words  : 

"'I  am  still  lif'.r.g  in  total  darkness,  and  never  see  any  light  except  when  I  am  al- 
lowed to  come  to  yea,  and  on  my  journey  catch  glimpses  of  the  sunny  light  of  happier 
regions,  and  hear  the  voices  and  songs  of  their  happier  inhabitants.'  She  confessed 
that  she  was  the  spirit  of  a  lady  of  notorious  life  and  character,  formerly  well  known 
at  Vienna,  and  was  then  suffering  the  necessary  consequences  of  her  self-induced  moral 
degradation,"—  says :  "  We  ourselves  *  had  various  unhappy  spirits  who  presented  them  • 

•  William  Howitt,  it  is  well  known,  was  a  drawing  and  writing  medium. 


EVIL  SPIRITS,  THEIR   PLANS,  DOINGS,  AND    DESTINIES.     lH 

lelves  at  our  domestic  $eancea  some  years  ago,  who  declared  that  they  were  living  in  b 
region  of  darkness,  desolation,  and  loneliness.  Tliey  uniformly  declined  to  reveal 
their  names,  adding  that  they  were  wholly  unknown  to  us.  We  asked  them  what  in- 
duced them  to  come  to  us ;  and  they  often  replied  that  they  chanced  to  be  passing, 
saw  a  light,  and  came  in,  curious  to  see  what  was  doing.  Sometimes  these  spirits  were 
possessed  of  an  idea  that  they  had  irrevocably  by  their  crimes  lost  the  favor  of  God, 
and  it  was  most  difficult  to  i«duce  them  to  think  otherwise;  though  we  reminded  them 
of  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  of  the  assurance  of  Jesus  Christ  that  whoever 
came  to  Ilim  He  would  in  no  wise  cast  out.  Sometimes  they  refused  to  be  prayed  for, 
saying  that  it  was  of  no  use,  and  that  in  fact,  wretched  as  they  were,  they  did  not  wish 
to  change.  Others,  however,  professed  to  feel  better  for  our  sympathy  and  counsels, 
and  came  again  and  again,  declaring  themselves  progressively  happier. 

"  On  one  of  the  last  of  these  occasions,  whilst  in  England,  a  spirit  unknown,  and 
declining  to  give  his  name,  said  that  he  would  relate  to  us  his  first  experience  in  the 
aph-it-world.  He.  said  that  he  found  himself  with  a  number  of  others  in  utter  dark- 
ness, cold,  hungr}',  and  most  miserable.  In  endeavoring  to  advance,  he  and  his  com- 
panions found  their  progress  obstructed  by  a  massive  and  lofty  wall.  They  felt  along 
it,  to  discover  some  door  or  passage  through  it,  but  could  find  none,  though  they  con- 
tinued their  search  to  a  great  distance.  At  length,  in  despair,  they  shouted  to  make 
some  one  hear  them,  but  for  a  long  time  received  no  answer  but  a  dreary  and  hollow 
echo.  All  else  was  silent,  dead,  a  vacancy,  and  most  tcn-ible  negation.  They  then 
burst  into  cries  of  desperation  and  despair,  when  at  length  a  voice  demanded  who  they 
were  and  what  they  wanted.  They  replied  that  they  were  newly-disembodied  spirits, 
who  were  perishing  with  cold,  stan'ation,  and  nakedness.  The  response  was,  '  You 
lived  selfish  lives  —  lived  for  yourselves.  You  felt  no  thankfulness  to  God,  nor  did 
you  cherish  in  your  hearts  true  love  for  your  fellow-men.  As  you  were  an  adamantine 
wall  to  humanity,  an  adamantine  wall  now  rises  inexorably  before  you,  cutting  oflf  all 
admission  to  more  favorable  regions.' 

"  This  teiTiblc  announcement  struck  them  down  like  dead  men.  They  bewailed 
themselves  bitterly,  and  cried  for  mercy  and  pardon,  when  <it  length  a  voice  ex- 
claimed, '  Arise,'  and  a  strong  hand  was  put  forth  from  the  darkness,  and  the  appar- 
ently impassable  wall  gave  way  to  that  mighty  hand,  and  they  found  themselves  in  a 
dusky,  and,  as  it  were,  Cimmerian  meadow,  where  friendly  beings  clothed  and  fed 
them,  and  told  them  that  now  they  were  on  the  open  highway  of  the  great  pilgrimage 
of  eternity,  and  must  advance,  grow  purer,  and  enjoy  according  to  their  own  exer- 
tions, to  the  obedience  to  their  spiritual  guides,  to  the  prayerful  love  they  exercised 
toward  the  great  Father,  to  the  law  of  Christ,  and  to  the  love  of  the  neighbor." 

The  Rev.  F.  R.  Young,  minister  of  the  Free  Christian 
Church,  Swindon,  England,  observes : 

"  On  Monday  afternoon,  December  23d,  1872, 1  was  reading  the  Standard  report  of 
Mr.  Gladstone's  speech,  delivered  at  Liverpool  on  the  previous  Saturday,  and  comment- 
ing upon  portions  of  it  in  the  presence  of  two  members  of  my  family  circle,^Ir3. 
Wreford  and  her  daughter.  Suddenly,  and  while  in  the  act  of  making  my  comments, 
I  began  to  feel  extremely  faint  from  what  I  thought  to  be  the  heat  of  the  room,  and 
desired  that  the  window  might  be  opened  for  the  ingress  of  fresh  air.  I  also  went 
from  the  fireplace  to  the  open  window,  hoping  that  in  a  few  minutes  the  feeling  of 
faintness  might  pass  away.  Veiy  shortly  after  this  charge  I  was  entranced,  and  slid 
off  the  chair  on  to  the  floor,  in  a  kneeling  position,  and  then  began  to  crawl  on  hands 
and  knees,  veiy  slowly,  groping  about  like  a  person  might  who  was  in  the  dark  and 
tiying  to  find  his  way  through  it.    While  in  this  position,  and  watched  eagerly  b? 


112  IMMORTALITT. 

those  present,  a  spirit  began  to  utter  through  me  certain  lines  of  verse,  which  were 
taken  down  in  short  hand  at  the  time.  '  Suiting,'  as  Shakspeare  says, '  the  action  to 
the  word  and  the  word  to  the  action,'  the  spirit  began  as  follows,  every  word  being 
fllnstrated  by  the  movements  my  body  made : 

'  I  wander  on  —  I  wander  far, 
No  light  of  sun  —  no  blink  of  star; 
I  wander  on  —  no  voice  1  hear, 
No  word  to  guide,  but  all  is  drear; 
I  wander  on,  'mid  darkness  deep. 
No  hand  to  touch,  no  rest,  no  sleep. 

0  heart,  so  foul  and  full  of  sin : 
Without  —  without  —  and  not  within ! 

1  might  have  been  "  within"  the  gate, 
But  scoflfed  and  scowled,  till  all  too  late; 
I  heard  a  voice,  a  voice  for  years, 

I  turned  away  —  no  hope  appears ; 

I  wander  on,  —  where  shall  I  go  ? 

I  say  "  this  way," — a  voice  says  "Nol" 

I  wander  on  —  I  cry  with  pain, 

I  ne'er  shall  hear  that  voice  again. 

The  voice  of  pity,  power,  and  love, 

The  voice  on  earth  of  God  above. 

I  wander  on,  and  stumble  —  fall : 

And  all  is  gone,  for  ever  —  all : 

0  sisters,  brothers,  in  the  land  below. 
If  I  could  tell  you  all  I  know ; 

'Tis  bitter  pain,  'tis  cruel  smart. 
How  can  I  cleanse  you,  filthy  heart  ? 

1  can  not  wander  —  I  must  stay. 
And  wait  the  beams  of  brighter  day. 


Perhaps  some  angel  hears  my  word, 

And  may  be  sent  here  by  its  Lord 

To  pick  up  me,  to  guide  my  feet. 

And  bring  my  wandering  steps  to  meet,'  Ac, 

"  At  this  point  I  think  the  spirit's  own  mention  of  the  word  '  Angel,'  must  have  sng 
gcsted  to  her  mind  the  fact  that  she  had  at  some  time  in  the  past  been  herself  called 
an  '  Angel,'  and  the  contrast  between  the  real  angelic  character  and  her  own  was  at 
once  felt  to  be  so  striking  that  she  burst  out  into  the  following  disclaimer : 

" '  An  angel  ?  no,  a  woman  fell. 
Who  dragged  her  dupes  the  road  to  hell, 
With  words  all  bland,  with  smiles  and  tears, 
With  laughter,  shouts ;  with  hopes  and  fears; 
They  paid  me  well  —  they  did  their  deed  — 
They  paid  on  garbage  foul  to  feed : 
I  know  it  now — I  see  it  all ; 
And  here  I  am,  no  voice  to  call,  — 
No  voice  to  say,  *'  Reach  forth  thy  hand, 
A  guide  is  here  to  Spirit-land ! " 
I  wander  on  —  all  dark  and  foul. 


EVIL  8PIBITS,  THEIR  PLANS,  DOINGS,  AND   DESTINIES.   118 

Begrimed  —  a  hated,  spotted  soul : 
The  sin  was  mine  and  only  mine : 
I  died  and  gave  the  world  no  sign ; 
I  died,  to  live  —  I  lived  to  know 
The  meaning  of  a  spirit's  woe.' 

"I  myself  saw  no  vision;  nor  was  I  aware,  until  I  had  come  out  of  the  trance,  of 
what  had  transpired,  and  then  only  by  being  told.  My  friends  saw  and  heard  me, 
and  me  only ;  but  under  abnormal  conditions  such  as,  generally  speaking,  they  had 
Been  over  and  over  again,  on  previous  occasions.  The  facts,  as  I  apprehend  them, 
were  that  a  spirit  spoke  through  me,  using  my  organs." 


"  The  momentous  lesson  here  taught  is,  that,  beyond  all  possibility  of  cavil,  the 
eternal  order  reigns  supreme  in  all  worlds,  —  that  compensation  cannot  be  escaped ; 
that '  AVhatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap  ; '  that  not  what  we  have,  or 
where  we  are,  is  the  great  matter,  but  what  we  are ;  and  that  however  '  case-hardened ' 
a  spirit  may  be  on  this  side  of  the  'border-land,'  the  time  must  come,  sooner  or  later, 
when  that  spirit  will  realize  its  own  condition,  and  its  own  surroundings." 

John  Jacob  Aster's  Lament^  through  the  Mediumship  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Conant. 

"  Gold  is  one  of  the  strongest  ties  which  binds  men  to  earth !  and  if  I  were  on  earth 
again,  I  would  not  be  the  owner  of  gold.  I  would  rather  take  the  chance  of  the  beggar 
than  that  of  the  rich  man.  I  would  rather  be  cradled  in  sorrow  on  earth,  for  then  1 
should  better  appreciate  the  joys  of  heaven.  And  as  all  men  sin,  so  all  men  must  be 
punished ;  and  I  had  rather  receive  my  punishment  on  earth  than  in  the  land  where 
we  all  hope  for  happiness.  Yes,  yes,  I  would  rather  be  a  Lazarus, —much  rather; 
and  could  I  be  again  transported  to  earth,  could  I  again  animate  a  material  form,  1 
would  pray  that  God  would  give  me  the  sunoundings  of  a  Lazarus,  rather  than  the 
suiToundings  of  a  rich  man.  When  the  rich  man  finds  death  at  his  door,  he  fears  to 
leave  his  real  happiness  for  the  imaginary  —  for  that  he  knows  nothing  of;  but  when 
the  poor  man  dies,  he  says,  *  I  have  nothing  here  to  bind  me ;  my  chance  is  equally 
good  in  the  Land  of  Spirits.'  A  few  years  ago  I  walked  upon  earth ;  I  animated  a  form 
like  yours.  I  handled  much  gold  and  silver,  and  coming  in  contact  with  the  same  — 
a  bard  material  substance  —  it  served  only  to  harden  my  nature,  and  fix  a  partition 
between  me  and  my  God.  Now  I  am  standing  upon  a  baiTCn  waste,  unclad,  and  I 
hear  the  passer-by  exclaiming,  '  You  had  your  good  things  on  earth  —  now  you  must 
have  your  evil  things ! '    It  is  well,  and  I  will  be  content. 

"  All  things  that  went  to  make  up  my  sum  of  happiness  on  earth  are  denied  me  in 
heaven ;  and  although  I  dwell  in  heaven,  I  partake  not  of  its  glories,  for  each  individ- 
ual forms  his  own  heaven  or  his  hell.  Heaven  may  be  within  me,  above  me, 
around  me,  and  yet  not  of  me.  I  may  not  be  happy,  although  others  may  be  happy 
around  me.  How  long  I  am  to  remain  so,  I  know  not.  I  know,  however,  that  He 
who  judges  righteously  will  not  judge  me  harshly.  All  I  know  is,  I  had  wealth  on 
earth,  and  that  I  would  rather  have  had  it  in  heaven,  than  where  I  am  known  no 
more.  I  am  visited  by  those  who  bore  earthly  relation  to  me,  ay,  by  those  who  were 
poor  on  earth,  and  now  they  are  rich ;  I  find  them  clad  in  heaven's  own  glorious  habil- 
iments; they  seek  to  encourage  me,  they  strive  to  aid  me ;  they  tell  me  my  suffering 
will  ultimately  end,  and  bid  me  be  of  good  cheer;  while  I  sit  and  murmur,  they  are 
praising  God.  Oh,  sad,  unhappy  fate !  when  shall  I  find  Him  whom  I  so  much  wish 
to  see  ^  —  Him,  the  God  of  the  rich  man  and  the  poor  ?    When  shall  I  dwell  in  that 

8 


114  IMMORTALITY. 

happj  circle  in  which  He  dwells  ?  Man's  time  on  earth  is  fleeting  as  a  mid-snmmer'i 
day — fleeting  —  fast  moving  away;  but  man's  spirit-existence  is  eternal.  Who 
would  not  rather  stand  in  eailh  on  the  plane  of  poverty,  than  stand  on  the  rich  man's 
eminence  ?  Who,  of  all  those  who  have  passed  on  to  know  of  better  things,  to  take  his 
share,  would  return  to  earth  ?    Not  one,  not  one ! 

"I  say  the  rich,  dwelling  here  on  earth,  have  hearts  like  adamant — gold  renders 
them  so.  Oh,  then,  ye  rich  men  of  earth,  scatter  your  gold  to  the  four  winds  of 
heaven,  if  yc  would  be  happy  hereafter.  It  is  hard  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  —  I  know  it.  I  laid  up  my  treasures  on  earth  ;  the  moth  came,  the  rust 
corrupted,  the  thieves  broke  through  and  stole,  and  I  am  poor  in  the  Spirit-world ; 
corrupted  are  my  treasures  in  heaven !  Oli.  I  would  to  God  I  had  never  made  the 
acquaintance  of  gold.  Mouths  ago  I  was  told  that  it  would  benefit  me  to  come  to 
earth;  but  my  spirit  loathed  earth  and  its  inhabitants,  for  there  commenced  my  un- 
happiness;  there  was  sown  the  seed  which  now  is  a  tree  of  evil,  covering  me  with  its 
deadly  shade ;  and  I  did  not  wish  to  return,  for  it  was  a  cross  too  heavy  for  me  to  bear 
up  the  hill  —  a  thorn  too  sharp  for  me  to  .cast  into  my  soul.  But  now  I  am  happy  I 
have  come  —  it  is  one  cross  taken  up.  Oh,  I  would  to  God  they  were  all  laid  upon 
my  shoulder,  for  I  think  now  I  could  bear  them  well. 

"Oh,  I  see  glimmering  in  the  distance  a  most  beautiful  star!  —  can  it  be  she  who 
passed  on  in  infancy  ?  They  tell  me  it  is  so.  Oh !  why  do  they  come  to  torment  me 
—  to  show  their  light,  wliile  I  have  none  ?  Oh,  He  who  judges  rightly  will  do  well. 
Let  them  come ;  mayhap  I  shall  be  able  to  follow  them  where  they  lead ;  mayhap  my 
hell  is  ended !  Yes,  yes,  the  angel  before  me  passed  from  my  sight  in  infancy  —  ere 
the  shadows  of  earth  fell  upon  her  spirit,  ere  the  cold  winds  of  earth  blew  upon  it, 
she  was  called  for,  and  now  she  comes  with  purity,  with  words  of  hope  to  cheer  me  on. 
It  is  well.  I  am  told,  in  taking  up  this  cross,  I  shall  pass  the  gulf  which  separates  us; 
I  am  told  my  cup  of  soitow  has  filled,  and  pleasure  is  to  come.  Oh,  may  I  have 
enough  to  scatter  among  the  children  of  earth !  Oh !  what  shall  I  say  to  them  now  ? 
To  the  rich  man  I  say,  '  Cast  from  thee  thy  riches ;  *  to  the  poor  man,  '  Pray  God  that 
wealth  may  never  enter  your  dwellings.'  " 

Judge  Edmonds,  being  "in  the  spirit,"  as  was  John  of 
Patmos,  saw  the  following  vision,  revealing  the  sad  condition 
of  one  groping  in  the  spheres  of  darkness : 

"  It  was  a  vast  country  that  was  before  me.  I  saw  to  an  immense  distance.  It  was 
peopled  by  great  numbers.  Some  parts  were  darker  than  others,  and  some  of  an  ink- 
like blackness.  There  was  a  great  variety  of  shade  to  the  atmosphere  from  a  light- 
gray  to  black.  I  had  seen  the  same  variety  in  the  happy  spheres ;  only  there  it  was  a 
variety  of  light,  here  it  was  a  variety  of  darkness. 

"  I  approached  one  of  those  black  spots,  and  there,  in  a  miserable  hovel,  was  a  hu- 
man being.  He  was  ghastly,  thin,  haggard  —  almost  a  skeleton.  He  knew  no  means 
of  escape  from  that  dark  habitation,  where  he  was  all  alone.  The  most  violent  of  hu- 
man passions  were  raging  in  him,  and  he  was  ever  walking  back  and  forth,  like  a 
chained  tiger  chafing  in  his  cage. 

"  There  was  a  little  light  in  that  habitation  of  his,  but  it  was  an  awful  one.  It  was 
the  red,  flame-like  light  of  his  own  eyes.  They  were  open  and  staring  like  burning 
coals,  with  a  black  spot  in  their  center,  and  were  constantly  straining  to  see  some- 
thing —  the  darkness  was  so  horrible  to  him !  He  had  no  companion  but  his  own 
hatred  and  the  memory  of  the  evil  past. 


EVIL   SPIBITS,  THEIR  PLANS,  DOINGS,  AND  DESTINIES.    115 

"  He  paused  once  in  a  while  in  his  walk,  raising  his  clenched  hand  above  his  head, 
ind  cursed  his  Maker  that  ever  he  created  him.  He  cursed  also  the  false  teachers, 
who  had  pretended  to  tell  him  the  consequences  of  a  life  of  sin,  and  yet  knew  so  little 
of  them.  They  had  told  him  of  a  hell  of  fire  and  bi-imstonc  only,  and  he  knew  that 
when  he  died,  casting  off  his  material  garb,  such  a  hell  could  have  no  efi"ect  upon  him. 
He  knew  that  such  a  hell  was  impossible.  He  therefore  laughed  the  idea  to  scorn, 
end,  di-eaming  of  no  other,  he  believed  there  was  none.  Now,  waking  to  the  reality 
of  a  hell  far  worse  than  had  ever  been  painted  to  him,  he  cursed  God  and  man  that  he 
had  been  left  alone  to  dare  its  torments — that  he  had  been  left  in  ignorance  of  what 
must  follow  the  indulgence  of  the  material  passions  to  which  he  had  given  up  his 
whole  life. 

"  K  you  could  have  seen  the  agony  that  was  painted  on  his  face,  the  despair  and 
hatred  that  spoke  in  every  lineament,  the  despei-ate  passion  that  swelled  eveiy  mus- 
cle, and  the  hon-ible  fear  that  stole  over  him  of  what  further,  or  worse,  might  ensue 
from  his  daring  defiance  of  God,  you  would  have  shuddered  and  recoiled  from  the 
sight;  and  what  aggravated  all  this  suffcriufr  was  his  ignorance  that  there  was  any 
redemption  for  him,  and  the  belief  that  it  was  for  ever !   .... 

"  He  clasped  his  hands  together  over  his  head  with  a  gesture  of  mute  despair,  and  ■ 
standing  thus  a  few  moments  he  cried,  '  Oh,  for  annihilation ! '  If  you  could  have  heard 
the  tone  in  which  that  imprecation  was  uttered,  you  could  have  fonned  an  idea  of '  the 
torments  of  the  damned.'  He  had  worked  himself  into  a  frightful  paroxysm  of  pas- 
sion. He  had  thrown  himself  pi'ostrate,  and  there  groveling  in  the  dirt  and  ^\Tithing 
in  agony,  he  howled  like  the  most  furious  maniac  that  bedlam's  worst  cell  ever  saw. 
At  length,  from  sheer  exhaustion,  he  was  still.  His  physical  powers  could  go  no 
farther,  but  the  worm  of  his  memoi-y  of  the  past,  which  never  dies,  was  but  the  mora 
active  because  of  the  cessation  of  the  external  eflFort ;  and  now,  as  he  thus  lay  pros- 
trate and  exhausted,  solitary  and  in  utter  darkness,  all  the  evil  deeds  of  his  life  on 
earth  chased  each  other  through  his  memory,  sporting  with  his  agony,  and  faithfully 
performing  their  teiTible  duty  of  retribution." 

The  Spirit  Stewart's  Uxploration  of  the  Hells,  through  the 
Mediumship  of  Thomas  Walker. 

"  The  spirit-world,  almost  measureless  in  extent,  has  actual 
localities,  as  well  as  conditions,  where  sympathizing  spirits 
meet.  A  higher  spirit  may  visit  the  lower  spheres,  but  the 
reverse  is  impossible. 

"  Leaving  our  beautiful  spirit  home,  crossing  Angel  Lake, 
and  descending  a  deep  decline,  we  come  to  a  sluggish  rolling 
river  at  the  foot  of  the  hills  of  Eternal  Sorrow.  Then  as- 
cending a  mountain,  and  standing  upon  one  of  its  loftiest 
peaks,  we  look  behind,  observing  Angel  Lake  nearly  a  hun- 
dred miles  in  the  distance,  appearing  a  bright  and  luminous 
star-point  upon  the  horizon,  with  broad  intervening  valleys. 

"  Turning  our  attention  to  what  is  before  us,  we  see  in  the 
widened  distance  a  misty  darkness,  and  as  we  descend  in  an 


118  IMMORTALITY. 

opposite  direction  from  which  we  came,  the  darkness  becumea 
more  and  more  intensified.  There  is  no  vegetation,  no  spark- 
ling rivers  nor  smiling  lakes.  As  we  pass  on,  coming  to  the 
base  of  a  range  of  hills,  rising  and  crossing  them,  the  harsh 
cries,  and  the  hoarse  agonies  that  appall  the  soul,  reveal  the 
fact  that  we  are  in  the  neighborhood  of  dark  and  undeveloped 
spirits. 

"  We  stand  for  a  moment  —  for  there  are  twelve  in  our 
party  —  to  mature  plans  for  the  thorough  investigation  of 
these  cities  of  strife.  We  each  take  a  separate  path,  leading 
to  different  portions,  I  having  the  most  direct  route  assigned 
to  me.  I  walk  steadily,  thoughtfully  along,  the  darkness  fad- 
ing into  a  lurid,  dusky,  phosphorescent  light,  until  I  come  to 
a  huge  cavern,  around  which  are  fierce  reptiles,  crawling  liz- 
ards, and  slimy  serpents,  winding  around  each  other  as  though 
in  fond  embraces.  In  the  atmosphere  are  vultures,  black  and 
dismal  —  everything  is  terribly  repulsive  ! 

"  Reflecting  for  a  few  moments  before  entering  the  cavern 
for  investigation,  we  come  to  the  conclusion  that  these  fierce, 
loathsome,  and  horrid  creatures  are  the  natural  outbirths  of 
just  such  dismal  localities  as  this.  Descending  beneath  the 
overarching  ceiling,  we  discover  a  capacious,  vault-like  room, 
where  reside  two  women  and  one  man.  Inquiring,  we  are 
informed  that  the  two  women,  in  a  quarrel  about  the  man, 
and  their  social  relations  with  him,  had,  while  on  earth,  mur- 
dered each  other,  the  one  dying  immediately,  the  other  living 
a  few  days  to  rave  in  anger.  The  vile  man  soon  after  com- 
mitted suicide !  In  malice,  hate,  and  strife  they  lived  on 
earth,  and  dying  in  strife  they  were  borne  into  the  spirit- 
world  ;  hence  their  home  is  in  the  City  of  Strife  I  And  as  if 
to  remind  them  of  their  past  deeds,  pictured  streams  of  blood 
seemingly  roll  down  the  sides  of  the  deep  black  walls  of  their 
dismal  abode ! 

"  In  relating  the  sad  story  to  us  they  occasionally  quarrel, 
accusing  each  other,  and  moaning  in  spirit ;  and  as  they  do 
this,  the  reptiles  and  animals,  so  demon-like  without,  mock 
them,  and  ghastly,  bat-like  creatures  screech  in  dismal  dis* 


EVIL   SPIRITS,  THEIR   PLANS,  DOINGS,  AND   DESTINIES.    Ill 

cords  that  echo  through  the  cave-chambers.  Here  these  per- 
sons are  doomed  to  remain  till  by  punishment,  by  penance, 
by  repentance  and  active  deeds  of  reparation,  they  shall  make 
amends  for  the  past. 

"  Leaving  the  cavern  by  its  only  entrance,  we  find  our- 
selves once  more  in  the  more  free  but  impure  atmosphere. 
We  have  no  great  distance  to  go  before  we  come  upon  a  clus- 
ter of  wretched  huts.  Their  exteriors  are  coarse  and  painful 
to  behold,  and  their  interiors  are  in  perfect  correspondence. 
Insects  and  lizards  are  also  here,  and  the  denizens  of  the  air 
are  pouring  out  their  jarring  discords.  The  occupants  of 
these  squalid  homes  are  of  the  same  quarrelsome  nature  as 
the  one  we  have  just  left. 

"  The  City  of  Strife   is  justly  named 

Horror's   Camp  ! 

"  Traveling  on  our  winding  way,  over  some  barren  hills, 
whose  frowning  summits  intercept  the  light  from  brighter 
scenes,  is  Horror's  Camp  !  Its  dwellers  are  numerous,  and 
principally  those  who  have  died  in  drunken  fits,  or  have  come 
to  these  shores  in  some  other  vehicle  of  crime  and  sin  ;  not 
that  they  merely  died  in  any  particular  passion,  but  having 
lived  lives  of  licentiousness  and  vice,  driving  far  away  the 
light  of  virtue,  they  entered  spirit  life  in  this  impure  state. 

"It  is  really  touching  —  enough  to  melt  the  heart  of  the 
stoutest,  to  observe  their  furrowed  brows,  glaring  eyes,  strag- 
gling hair,  and  bony,  sinewy  frames,  half  covered  in  scarlet 
garments.  We  observe  that  some  of  them  gaze  intently  upon 
the  dark  and  dismal  walls,  without  removing  their  eyes  from 
the  serpent-charmed  spot.  The  scenes  of  their  past  lives  are 
in  their  most  disgusting  features,  floating  before  their  vision, 
and  playing  upon  the  walls.  They  are  horrified  at  the  sight 
of  their  own  misdeeds  ;  and  they  cry  out  occasionally  in  wail- 
ing choruses,  comparable  only  to  terror  itself  personified ! 
Sometimes  they  vary  this  monotony  by  endeavoring  to  re-live 
their  earthly  lusts ;  but  being  unable,  they  are  mortified  and 
ehocked  with  horror,  and  then  resort  to  new  orgies,  hoping  to 


118  IMMORTALITY. 

realize  some  carnal  delight.  It  is  surprisiLg  to  hear  how 
some  will  talk  to  their  comrades  about  virtue.  They  know 
the  word's  most  significant  meaning,  yet  they  cover  it  with 
a  kind  of  polished  vice,  and  make  the  two  terms  synony- 
mous. To  listen  believingly  to  their  talk,  some  of  them  on 
earth  had  lived  exemplary  and  virtuous  lives ;  yet  they  are 
the  most  depraved  and  degraded  of  any.  These  more  talka- 
tive characters  will  draw  plans  for  leaving  Horror's  Camp 
that  they  may  return  to  earth,  that  they  may  influence  mor- 
tals, and  in  this  way  gratify  their  propensities.  But  as  all 
have  different  views  upon  the  matter,  and  as  inharmony  pre- 
vails in  their  demoniac  councils,  the  affair  generally  ends  in  a 
quarrel.  And  so  they  here  remain  —  poor,  vice-strung  souls, 
horror-bound,  they  sigh  in  restless  suspense,  daily  exhibiting 
their  contempt  for  the  laws  of  man  and  God !  " 

The  Hells  Mitigated. 

*'  Deeply  interested  in  the  study,  and  pursuing  ray  explora- 
tions, all  bring  in  reports  similar  to  mine.  Three  of  us  now 
resolve  to  continue,  for  a  time,  in  one  of  these  hells,  and 
watch  the  methods  of  reaching  and  redeeming  those  peopling 
the  lower  spheres.  We  select  the  case  of  a  man  who  has  been 
in  darkness  some  time,  yet  seems  possessed  of  some  good  ten- 
dencies. His  abode  is  in  a  den  beneath  an  overhanging  cliff, 
dimly  illumined  by  a  ghastly  light.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  the  Divine  Light  partially  illumines,  and  the  Divine 
Life,  by  the  law  of  influx,  flows  into  all  the  spheres. 

"  Unseen  by  this  persou,  we  adjust  ourselves  and  watch  him 
carefully,  noticing  every  act  and  listening  to  every  ejacula 
tion.  In  this  way  we  learn  that  in  a  revengeful  quarrel  with 
his  brother,  while  on  earth,  he  inflicted  upon  himself  a  fatal 
wound,  and  therefore  was  borne  to  this  dark  place.  He  grav- 
itated to  his  own  place  just  as  naturally  as  a  stone  falls  to  the 
earth.  Here  he  indulges  at  times  in  expressions  of  anger,  re- 
venge, and  terrible  threats.  Upon  one  occasion,  after  these 
wild  ravings,  we  see  him  sadder  than  usual,  and,  sitting  upon 
a  cliff,  and  thinking  doubtless  of  his  misspent  and  vicious  life, 


EVIL   SPIBITS,  THEIR   PLANS,  DOINGS,  AND  DESTINIES.       119 

he  cries  out  in  the  fullness  of  his  soul,  '  What !  am  I  here  for 
trying  to  slay  my  brother  ?  O  heaven !  I've  been  mad ! ' 
and  the  tears,  such  as  only  spirits  can  shed,  stream  down  his 
face  upon  the  crystal  rocks  beneath.  And  while  thus  weep- 
ing the  vapor  of  his  thoughts  gather  round  him,  in-filling  his 
demon-home  with  sorrow.  Soon  we  begin  to  witness  his 
gradual  transformation. 

"  The  rocks  disappear,  the  fierce  bowlings  in  the  air  are 
hushed,  and  this  seemingly  lost  soul,  angel-guided,  finds  him- 
self in  a  dismal  cellar,  in  one  of  the  filthy  streets  of  Liver- 
pool, England.  Here  on  a  pallet  of  straw,  without  the  com- 
forts of  home,  lies  his  brother  —  almost  dying!  Remember- 
ing at  once  his  past  unkindnesses,  the  scene  touches  his  soul's 
vitals.  He  weeps;  and  tenderly  bending  over  the  sickly 
form,  he  prays,  'O  God,  and  O  father  and  mother  —  angels 
now,  forgive  my  past  sins,  and  make  me  better  in  the  future, 
for  Christ's  sake.     Amen  I ' 

"  His  tears,  his  earnest  prayer,  draw  others  to  him,  though 
he  is  not  aware  of  their  presence  ;  they  give  him  strength,  and 
he  imparts  it  in  love-waves  of  magnetism  to  his  deeply 
wronged  and  sufi'ering  brother.  This  continues  for  months,  the 
sick  man  growing  weaker,  fainter.  But  all  this  time  the  good 
thoughts  of  each  enlist  the  interest  of  higher  spirits,  while 
the  two  brothers  build  by  their  thoughts  and  deeds  of  kind- 
ness a  home  in  the  better  land.  The  last  we  witness  is  when 
earth  yields  up  its  claims,  and  the  released  brother,  leaving  the 
body,  is  borne  in  slumbers  sweet  to  the  abode  awaiting  him, 
by  the  brother  now  more  angel-made.  As  time  passes  on,  the 
flowers  grow,  the  trees  sigh,  the  streams  ripple,  and  the  birds 
sing  sweetly  in  adjoining  groves  ;  for  no  inharmony,  no  sloth 
abides  in  that  home ;  and  so  in  blessing  another,  the  blessing 
is  returned.  .  .  .  Here  you  may  ask,  even  though  our  motive 
was  good,  how  we  could  leave  our  sun-bright  abodes  and 
tarry  in  the  murky  atmosphere  of  the  hells  ?  Be  our  answer : 
Spiiits  project  the  atmosphere  or  aural  emanation  in  which 
they  live  and  move.     When  descending  into  the  hells,  this 


120  IMMORTALITY. 

personal  atmosphere  becomes  a  protective  envelope,  being  pos- 
itive to  the  general  as  well  as  individual  atmospheres  of  lower 
spheres  ;  but  if  one  attempts  to  ascend  from  a  lower  to  a 
higher  sphere,  his  characteristic  emanations  are  negative  to 
the  aromal  flames  which  then  become  to  him  a  consuming 
fire." 


TESTIMONY  OP  PERSONS   IN   SPIRIT   LIFE.  121 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  TESTIMONY  OF   PHYSICIANS   AND   OTHERS   IN   SPIRIT 
LIFE. 

"He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  churches." 

The  Revelatob. 

Dr.  Jeachris's  Home  —  Experiences  and  Observations  in  Spirit 
Life.     Through  R.  C.  Flower'' s  Mediumship. 

When  living  in  the  body,  I  resided  in  England,  and  have 
been  in  the  world  of  spirits  about  one  hundred  and  fifty-seven 
years.  In  the  process  of  dying  I  seemed  to  fall  asleep.  It 
was  about  midnight  when  I  left  the  form.  Dr.  Talbot  James 
was  standing  by  the  bed-side.  By  profession  I  was  an  Epis- 
copalian, believing  in  the  literal  resurrection  of  the  physical 
body,  believing  that  the  righteous  went  to  Paradise,  and  the 
wicked  to  perdition. 

When  full  consciousness  came  to  me,  it  seemed  to  be  morn- 
ing, and  I  said  to  my  sister  standing  by  my  side,  *'  It  must  be 
morning  time  ;  it  is  light  in  the  East."  I  fancied  that  birds  — 
white  sea-birds  —  and  sylph-like  forms  were  flying  about  me. 
Everything  was  clothed  in  a  kind  of  beautiful  strangeness. 
Forgetting  my  tired  feeling,  and  becoming  more  consciously 
awake,  I  saw  persons  gathering  around  and  smiling  upon  me. 
I  saw  upon  the  stand  buds  and  beautiful  flowers,  felt  gentle 
touches  upon  my  head,  and  felt  too  comfortable  to  make  any 
special  inquiries.  I  seemed  to  partially  sleep,  and  waking  saw 
my  mother  kneeling  by  my  side.  She  dropped  a  kiss  upon  my 
lips,  and  taking  me  by  the  hand,  I  stood  up  fully  conscious  that 
I  was  in  the  resurrection  state  of  existence.  But  I  was  dis- 
appointed—  sorely  disappointed.     Some  whom  I  expected  to 


122  rMMOHTALITY. 

meet  were  absent.  Some  whom  I  believed  hopelessly  lost, 
were  present  helping  me.  And  others  still,  whom  I  had  almost 
reverenced  and  worshiped  as  apostolic,  were  not  there.  They 
were  not  fitted  to  be  spiritual  teachers.  I  learned  by  this, 
friend  Peebles,  that  sonls  are  saved  neither  by  the  cross 
nor  creeds ;  neither  by  uttered  prayers  nor  professions ;  but 
by  just,  pure,  and  upright  lives.  Episcopalianism  did  me  no 
good  whatever.  The  aflBicted  that  I  helped,  the  sorrowing 
that  I  encouraged,  the  poor  that  I  relieved  —  these  were  the 
good  angels  that  flocked  around  me,  welcoming  me  to  the 
home  of  immortality.  .  .  . 

The  spiritual  body  is  the  intermediate  between  the  soul  and 
the  physical  body,  and  does  not  disintegrate  and  become  par- 
ticled  in  the  process  of  changing  worlds.  The  spiritual  man 
rises  up  in  its  glorified  form  out  of  the  inferior,  unfit,  worn-out 
garment.  One  of  the  apostles  —  Paul,  I  think  —  says,  "  There 
is  a  spiritual  body;"  and  he  might  have  added:  There  shall 
be  a  spiritual  body,  or  a  more  glorious  body,  rising  in  per- 
petual perfection.  .  .  .  As  to  my  home,  I  might  have  had  a 
better  one  had  I  lived  a  more  unselfish  life;  but  such  as  it  was 
I  was  conducted  to  by  my  mother  and  some  friendly  spirit- 
attendants.  Compared  with  the  homes  of  mortals,  it  was  emi- 
nently attractive  —  and  yet  far  inferior  to  the  homes  of  the 
angels.  Perhaps  you  wish  a  more  minute  description  ?  Thread 
together  all  the  beautiful  thoughts  of  your  life,  weave  them 
into  a  garden  of  delight,  fill  that  garden  with  choicest  pictures 
of  charity,  sympathy,  and  love,  and  you  will  realize  in  part 
the  beauty  of  my  home ;  consisting  as  it  does  of  parlors, 
chemical  instruments,  galleries  of  art,  select  libraries  —  for  we 
have  these  things  here  —  as  well  as  beautiful  skies  above, 
down  from  which  in  avenues  of  light  the  angels  of  God  de- 
scend. And  yet  my  home  is  imperfect.  There  was  a  place 
for  history  of  unselfish  love,  and  I  had  not  written  it  I  There 
was  an  empty  library  shelf  that  should  have  been  filled  with 
books  of  Philanthropy,  and  I  had  not  filled  it  1  And  here 
was  a  vacant  place  that  I  should  have  filled  with  a  volume 
containing  a  record  of  my  gifts  to  the  poor ;  but,  alas  I  though 


TESTIMONY  OF   PERSONS   IN    SPIRIT   IZTE.  123 

wealthy,  I  had  hugged  my  money  like  a  miser.  People  called 
me  liberal ;  but  Heaven  looked  upon  me  with  pity.  True, 
there  were  volumes  of  philanthropy  ;  there  was  a  record  of 
my  kind  deeds,  but  there  were  many  blanks  also ;  and  so  my 
home  was  imperfect.  A  beautiful  house,  sheltering  an  -ex- 
tensive library,  with  many  empty  shelves.  .  .  .  Some  who 
accompanied  me  to  my  home,  left  soon  afterwards ;  they 
were  not  permitted  to  stay.  Others  did  not  choose  to  stay ; 
perhaps  they  saw  ray  empty  shelves.  Had  I  done  what  I 
might  have  done  on  earth  —  had  I  been  a  missionary  of  light, 
and  an  angel  of  mercy,  scattering  my  treasures  to  make  men 
and  women  good  and  happy,  my  library  would  have  been 
filled,  and  the  imperfect  chambers  of  my  house  would  have 
been  finished  and  begemmed  with  precious  stones. 

Q.  As  you  develop  and  become  more  heavenly  in  your 
aspirations,  does  not  your  home  become  more  beautiful  ? 

A.  Certainly  it  does.  And  because  of  its  imperfection, 
because  my  work  on  earth  was  not  well  done,  I  was  necessi- 
tated to  return  to  this  earth-world  of  darkness,  to  finish  up 
unaccomplished  work.  My  mission  for  the  time  being  is  here. 
I  have  relieved  the  suflFering ;  I  have  impressed  the  rich  to 
give  to  the  poor,  I  have  spoken  words  of  cheer  to  the  dis- 
heartened ;  I  have  stood  by  the  beds  of  the  dying,  and  whis- 
pered words  of  comfort  to  weeping  ones.  Thus  am  I  fulfil- 
ling my  mission  ;  thus  am  I  perfecting  my  house  ;  thus  filling 
the  empty  shelves,  thus  beautifying  the  chambers,  thus  bur- 
nishing the  furniture,  and  brightening  the  surroundings.  Do- 
ing this  in  years  agone,  I  have  reached  a  higher  plane,  and 
my  home  is  infinitely  more  attractive.  And  yet,  I  must  widen 
it  to  receive  others,  for  my  love  goes  out  to  all  the  intelli- 
gences of  God. 

Q.  According  to  Swedenborg,  if  I  rightly  understand  him, 
time  and  space  are  unknown  to  spirits.  Is  this  your  expe- 
rience ? 

A.  Time  and  distance  are  nothing  to  spirits  compared  with 
what  they  are  to  mortals ;  but  to  say  they  are  absolutely  un- 
known to  spirits,  is  saying  too  much.     Whatever  exists,  neces« 


124  IMMORTALITY. 

sarily  exists  somewhere,  and  this  very  term  implies  locality  — 
and  between  different  localities  there  must  be  distances,  and 
this  word  implies  space  between  them.  Still,  we  travel 
almost  like  thought.  There  is  no  distance  really  to  your 
thought.  You  can  think  of  the  islands  that  stud  the  Orien- 
tal seas  as  quickly  as  you  can  of  the  Atlantic  ocean.  You 
can  remember  something  that  transpired  last  year,  as  quickly 
as  something  that  happened  to-day.  These  facts  you  recog- 
nize ;  yet,  when  thoughts  are  connected  with  an  organized 
being,  they  more  sensibly  appreciate  the  conditions  of  time 
and  space. 

England,  I  think,  is  about  3,500  miles  from  this  continent, 
and  yet  a  spirit  will  pass  from  here  to  there  in  a  few  minutes 
of  time.  My  present  home,  I  would  say,  is  hardly  half  as  far 
from  this  place  as  England.  I  can  impress  the  medium  while 
in  my  spirit  home,  and  even  entrance  him,  although  I  usually 
come  into  his  immediate  presence.  On  the  present  occasion 
I  was  in  my  spirit  home  when  the  medium  took  this  chair, 
and  did  not  depart  from  it  until  the  medium  felt  something 
tingling  the  base  of  his  brain.  My  present  home,  remember, 
is  far  above  your  earth,  in  the  regions  of  the  interstellar 
ether. 

Q.  Are  many  mediums  controlled  by  undeveloped  spirits, 
sometimes  termed  demons  ;  and  if  so,  how  is  the  matter  to  be 
remedied  ? 

A.  Sir,  you  touch  upon  a  subject  that  we  in  spirit  life  — 
keenly  feeling  the  force  of  it  —  have  a  delicacy  in  answering. 
It  is  to  a  great  extent  true.  Comparatively  ignorant,  bigoted, 
and  self-conceited  spirits  often  control  good  and  innocent 
mediums,  just  because  they  can^  and  then  prate  to  the  world 
that  they  are  Socrates  or  Jesus,  Mohammed,  Josephus,  or  some 
other  great  historic  character.  It  is  fearful  to  behold !  I 
have  seen  mediums  speaking  under  influences,  making  pre- 
tentious claims,  when  in  fact  they  were  controlled  by  some 
scheming  and  depraved  libertine.  Psychology,  and  all  the 
phases  of  spirit  control,  should  be  more  carefully  studied. 
As  an  organized  band  of  spirits,  we  allow  none  but  ourselves 


TESTIMONY  OF   PERSONS  IN   SPIRIT   LIFE.  125 

to  control  this  medium.  By  the  exercise  of  this  caution,  we 
find  that  we  can  use  him  to  better  advantage.  He  has  nat- 
urally a  kind,  yielding  nature,  and  if  opened  to  all  controls 
and  gradations  of  spirits,  he  might  be  unwisely  handled,  and 
his  nervous  system  in  the  end  become  a  wreck. 

Why,  sir,  this  morning  a  poor  afflicted  mortal  came  to  this 
medium  for  the  purpose  of  being  medically  examined.  While 
standing  by  the  medium,  telling  of  his  maladies,  I  pointed 
beyond,  and  said,  "  Poor  mortal !  there  is  your  disease,  a  very 
low  spirit  —  a  cunning  demon !  I  touched  the  young  man,  and 
for  a  moment  his  nervous  system  was  very  much  agitated,  but 
he  soon  became  calm  and  seemingly  comfortable.  I  command- 
ed these  demons  to  leave  the  room,  and  this  nervous,  suffer- 
ing mortal  was  quiet  and  happy,  saying,  "  I  feel  like  a  new 
man  ! "  But  these  inferior  spirits,  because  of  the  patient's 
habits  of  life  and  unfortunate  associations,  will  again  have 
control  of  him. 

Remember  that  dying  does  not  speedily  transform  evil- 
minded  men  into  angels.  There  are  in  the  lower  spheres  of 
our  world  playful  spirits,  frivolous  spirits,  mirthful  and  mali- 
cious spirits.  The  whole  of  this  unpleasant  truth  should  be 
told.  There  are  revengeful  spirits,  who  sometimes  injuriously 
influence  little  children;  and  they  would  sometimes  carry 
their  caprices  still  further  were  they  not  arbitrarily  restrained 
by  guardian  angels.  This  subject  of  psychic  influence  and 
obsessions  should  receive  more  attention  from  thinkers  and 
medical  reformers.  And  mediums  should  be  better  protected 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  of  death. 

Q.  What  is  your  opinion  upon  the  question  of  pre-exist- 
ence,  now  agitating  the  minds  of  the  French  and  English 
speaking  Spiritualists  ? 

A.  This  is  strange  to  me,  being  so  foreign  to  my  mission. 
But  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  expressing  my  opinion,  though  it 
differs  widely  from  the  medium's.  Personally,  I  have  no 
recollection  of  ever  existing  prior  to  my  earthly  life.  And 
yet,  I  have  met  spirits,  many  ancient  spirits,  who  claimed  to 
have  remembered  distinctly  an  existence  preceding  their  life 


126  IMMORTALITY. 

on  earth.  I  have  no  such  recollection.  However,  I  have 
attained  to  a  state  of  unfoldment  enabling  me  to  understand 
that  every  spirit  exists  in  preparation  before  conception.  I 
was  ignorant  of  this  for  many  years  after  coming  to  the  spirit 
land.  Ancient  and  wiser  spirits  than  myself  can  tell  you 
more  about  tliis  subject  so  difficult  of  comprehension.  I  have, 
however,  learned  to  ray  own  satisfaction  that  every  spirit  has 
an  existence  before  the  beginning  of  embryonic  life.  The 
Bpirit,  or  soul  as  some  prefer  to  call  it,  is  a  compound  of 
divine  attributes,  or  the  essence  of  essential  life.  And  away 
in  the  infinite  deeps,  in  the  bosom  of  the  everlasting  chimes, 
away  beyond  on  the  breast  of  infinite  thought,  I  can  see  that 
the  spirit  was  prepared  for  earthly  incarnation.  I  have  never 
said  this  before  to  mortals,  and  I  hardly  think  they  are  pre- 
pared for  it.  This  medium  would  not  believe  it  if  I  should 
preach  it  to  him  till  the  rising  of  to-morrow's  sun.  But  med- 
icine, as  you  well  know,  and  not  preaching,  is  my  mission. 

Q.  What  estimate  do  you  and  your  associates  in  the  higher 
life  put  upon  Jesus  Christ? 

A.  This  is  a  question  which,  when  answered,  you  will  per- 
ceive to  be  more  in  harmony  with  the  medium's  mind  than 
the  previous  one.  In  the  ages  of  remote  antiquity,  away 
back  beyond  the  closed  avenues  of  thousands  of  millenniums, 
when  angels  lived  upon  this  earth,  when  gods  and  goddesses 
smiled  upon  the  Eden  lands  of  the  Orient,  virgins,  pure  and 
lovely,  were  selected  and  raised  up  with  an  eye  single  to  the 
duties  of  holy  motherhood.  Intellectually,  physically,  and 
morallj-,  they  became  almost  perfect.  After  a  few  genera- 
tions, from  such  mothers,  in  connection  with  wise  and  chaste 
fathers,  there  arose  a  beautiful  humanity.  Golden  ages  in  the 
past  are  neither  dreams  nor  myths.  In  those  remote  periods, 
women  were  lovely  to  look  upon  and  divinely  lovely  to  con- 
verse with.  Then  the  controlling  spiiits  of  the  higher  Edens 
conceived  the  idea  of  raising  up  some  Sou  of  Light,  so  beau- 
tiful a  spirit,  his  white  scepter  of  love,  like  a  magic  wand, 
should  touch,  radiate  through,  and  ultimately  mould  all  the 
elements  of  society.     Looking  down  the  vista  of  years,  they 


TESTIMONY  OP  PERSONS   IN   SPIRIT  LIFE.  127 

resolved  to  choose  a  pure  virgin,  especially  prepared;  one 
who  in  her  childhood  they  should  mediumistically  influence, 
purifying  her  nature,  enlarging  her  conceptions,  and  expand- 
ing her  clairvoyant  vision.  This  was  accomplished.  She 
grew  to  maturity,  strong  and  good,  when  they  selected  for 
her  a  proper  and  spiritually  miuded  companion.  In  the  con- 
nection of  the  blending  forces,  the  union  of  wisdom  and  love, 
there  were  ^iven  the  right  conditions  for  the  sacred  incarna- 
tion ;  and  from  this  moment  the  to-be-welcomed  one  was 
illumined  and  enveloped  in  spiritual  light.  Spirits  influenced 
and  continually  overshadowed  the  mother.  The  father  was 
so  influenced  and  psychically  overshadowed,  that  apparently 
the  child  was  not  his,  and  yet  it  icas  his.  From  the  moment 
of  conception  to  the  birth,  and  thereafter,  angels  were  daily 
visitors  in  the  capacity  of  miuistrants  and  teachers.  Thus  he 
grew.  The  old  Egyptians  would  say  of  such  a  "  son  of  light," 
that  he  was  begotten  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  because  spirits  and 
holy  angels  directed  the  methods  through  which  it  came  to 
enlighten  the  world.  This  is  my  opinion  of  the  matter.  But  I 
do  not  presume  to  speak  for  all  spirits.  ...  I  have  seen  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  in  the  higher  world  which  I  now  inhabit.  There 
are  halos  of  energy  and  love  —  halos  of  goldan  brightness 
surrounding  the  head  of  this  healer,  sympathizer,  and  orator. 
He  did  not  often  speak  when  living  upon  earth,  but  went 
about  in  the  capacity  of  healing  the  sick,  making  the  blind  to 
see,  and  casting  out  demons.  Your  records  of  him  are  by  no 
means  perfect.  He  is  a  Divine  Light,  a  loving  missionary, 
whose  influence  is  not  only  felt,  but  whose  presence  is  some- 
times seen  in  those  spheres  that  once  echoed  in  love  and  for- 
giveness among  "  spirits  in  prison."  He  was  not,  when  in 
Palestine,  the  intellectual  reasoner  that  was  Plato  in  Greece ; 
but  he  was  the  soul  of  love — a  living  center  of  intuition. 
Accordingly,  where  one  to-day  hears  of  Plato,  millions  hear 
of  Jesus.  And  just  so  long  as  the  potency  of  love  is  acknowl- 
edged in  the  universe,  just  so  long  will  he  be  enthroned  in 
the  hearts  of  the  wise  and  the  good  I 


J  28  IMMORTALITY. 

A  Series  of  Philosophical  and  Practical  Inquiries  answered  hy 
Mr.  Rush  through  the  Mediumship  of  J,  W.  Colville. 

The  process  of  dying  to  me  was  a  period  of  temporary  un- 
consciousness. I  passed  from  earthly  existence  very  suddenly, 
and  woke  at  an  apparently  immense  height  above  the  earth.  .  . 

My  first  companions  in  spirit  life  were  my  mother  whom  I 
had  dearly  loved  on  earth,  and  a  friend  who  had  been  my 
guide  when  in  the  body.  Many  other  spirits  soon  came  around 
me  with  words  of  welcome.  .  .  . 

M}'-  spirit  home  is  not  within  the  atmosphere  of  this  earth, 
but  far  above  it.  .  .  . 

I  found  a  home  prepared  for  me  in  spirit  life,  but  incom- 
plete ;  I  am  now  working  to  complete  it.  Every  act  of  my 
earthly  life,  yea,  every  secret  thought,  I  found  had  taken  tan- 
gible form.  Many  scenes  either  adorned  or  disfigured  the 
walls.  As  I  endeavored  to  rise  above  all  earthly  imperfec- 
tion, as  I  labored  to  assist  spirits  in  the  lower  spheres  and  men 
on  earth,  the  bright  scenes  glowed  out  with  unspeakable  bril- 
liancy, and  the  dark  ones  gradually  faded  out  and  brighter 
pictures  filled  tlieir  places.  During  our  sojourn  on  earth  our 
homes  are  prepared  for  us  by  the  angels,  and  are  built  of  the 
vibrations  which  go  forth  into  the  spiritual  atmosphere  from 
our  hearts  and  lives.  Will-power,  when  it  subdues  evil,  beau- 
tifies the  home. 

When  a  spirit  habitation  is  no  longer  required,  the  atoms 
of  which  it  is  composed  are  dissipated,  the  spirits  carrying 
with  them  up  to  a  higher  sphere  the  materials,  which  then 
form  the  nucleus  of  a  more  glorious  home.  Spirits  who  have 
gained  a  complete  victory  over  matter  can  cause  habitations 
to  spring  into  being  at  will ;  and  then  they  cease  to  exist  as 
such  when  no  longer  needed.  .  .  . 

The  only  library  I  have  is  my  memory,  and  when  I  desire 
information,  I  converse  with  spirits  higher  than  myself;  and 
being  able  to  will  myself  to  other  places  than  the  one  I  in- 
habit, I  can  visit  personally  places  concerning  which  I  desire 
information.     I  can  also  read  the  books  you  publish  on  earth 


TESTIMONY  OP  PEESONS  IN  SPIKIT  LIFE.  129 

through  my  medium,  and  thus  become  acquainted  with  ynur 
literature.  .  .  . 

I  have  not  personally  visited  other  planets,  but  am  well  ac- 
quainted with  many  spirits  who  have.  These  inform  me  that 
nearly  every  planet  is  inhabited  by  a  distinct  race  of  beings, 
tliose  on  the  planet  Mercury  being  the  lowest  race  both  in 
intellectual  and  spiritual  enlightenment,  and  those  on  the  out- 
ermost planet  being  the  highest  cultured.  The  moon,  I  bear, 
is  also  inhabited,  but  by  beings  very  inferior  to  civilized  man 
on  earth.  The  accounts  I  have  received  correspond  with  those 
given  by  "  Hafed."  Those  only  who  have  reached  the  inter- 
stellar spheres  can  gain  knowledge  direct  from  other  planets, 
and  they  communicate  their  knowledge  to  the  sphere  which  I 
now  inhabit.  ,  .  . 

Animals  and  insects  of  earth  sometimes  retain  individ- 
uality for  a  brief  period  after  leaving  their  bodies,  but  soon 
become  merged  into  the  vast  realm  of  elemental  spirit.  Man 
alone,  of  all  the  beings  on  earth,  possesses  permanent  and 
eternal  entity,  which  persists  by  reason  of  his  possession  of  a 
divine  soul.  .  .  . 

We  have  never  met  with  elementary  spirits.  I  do  not 
know  any  spirits  who  have.  .  .  . 

All  spirits  in  spirit  life  have  guides,  even  as  every  man  on 
earth  has  a  guardian  angel ;  and  also  many  have  a  band  of 
spirit  guides.  Spirits  progress,  and  mediums  progress,  and 
when  both  advance  together,  the  relationship  of  guide  and 
medium  may  be  retained  for  an  indefinite  number  of  ages.  .  .  . 

We  regard  spirit  as  the  cause,  and  matter  as  the  effect  of 
all  things.  Spirit  is  eternal,  and  is  eternally  creating  sub- 
stances as  vehicles  for  outermost  expression.  The  relation 
between  spirit  and  matter  is  analogous  to  that  between  con- 
scious man  and  his  physical  bod3^  .  .  . 

All  souls  abide  in  God  as  the  eternal  Fount  of  Being. 
They  find  expression  in  matter  in  order  that  they  may  subdue 
it  and  become  co-partners  with  the  Deity  in  his  work  of  crea- 
tion. Souls  are  generated  to-day  by  the  union  in  celestial 
love  of  the  angels  in  heaven,  who  in'  perfection  of  purity  are 
9 


ISO  IMMORTAIilTY. 

God's  mediums  for  the  creation  of  souls.  We  believe  every 
Boul  expresses  itself  through  matter  either  in  this  system  of 
worlds  or  some  other  before  it  can  return  to  the  Creator  as  a 
conscious,  victorious,  individual  spirit,  willingly  subjected  to 
the  Divine  Law.  .  .  . 

The  soul  is  not  evolved  up  through  matter,  but  proceeds 
downward  into  matter  from  God,  wherever  matter  is  capable 
of  giving  it  expression.  No  structural  organism  lower  than 
the  human  in  the  scale  of  organic  life  is  capable  of  giving  ex- 
pression to  the  divine  soul,  the  most  interior,  part  of  man's 
nature.  It  is  the  possession  of  the  soul  that  makes  man  wliat 
he  is.  We  regard  the  soul  as  the  very  breath  of  God  in  man, 
the  direct  inbreathing  of  the  deific  life,  which  gives  to  man 
eternal  individuality  as  a  distinct  being.  .  .  . 

All  germs  exist  in  the  spirit  before  they  can  be  expressed 
in  matter.  The  monad  expresses  the  single  spiritual  germ, 
the  duad  the  continuation  of  two,  the  triad  of  three,  and  so 
on.  Everything  exists  in  spirit  life  before  it  can  clothe  itself 
with  matter.  We  regard  every  expression  of  life  as  the  di- 
rect result  of  the  incarnation  of  a  distinct  spiritual  type. 

Man  unquestionably  was  the  result  of  a  direct  act  of  crea- 
tive power,  even  as  were  all  other  forms  of  life.  Man  was  at 
the  first  moment  of  his  advent  on  earth  in  appearance  little 
higher  than  a  monkey,  though  no  more  a  monkey's  offspring 
than  is  a  dog.  In  the  spiritual  world  every  type  existed  pre- 
vious to  its  appearance  in  the  material  world.  Man's  spirit 
was  the  highest  possible  development  of  spirit,  though  with 
its  possibilities  not  yet  attained. 

We  regard  Protoplasm  and  Bioplasm  merely  as  convenient 
terms  used  by  scientists  to  explain  their  theories.  We  be- 
lieve that  man  was  as  fully  competent  to  eat  and  digest  food 
when  he  first  appeared  on  earth  as  he  is  to-day.  The  organ- 
ism was  more  gross,  and  could  assimilate  grosser  substances, 
perchance,  more  readily  than  civilized  man.  Man  as  a  struc- 
tural organism  always  possessed  all  the  powers  in  germ  which 
he  will  ultimately  possess  fully  developed.  .  .  . 

There  are  no  processes  going  on  now  whereby  one  type 


TESTIMONY  OF  PERSONS   IN  SPIRIT  LIFE.  131 

merges  into  another.  Such  a  theory  is  a  mere  assertion  of 
some  schools  of  scientists,  and  cannot  be  proved  by  observa- 
tion or  any  amount  of  reasoning. 

Dialogue  with  a  Spirit :   a  Communication  from   William 
Go7'don,  through  Br.  Samuel  Maxxvell. 

I  was  born,  reared,  educated,  and  passed  to  spirit  life  from 
Boston.     I  was  a  merchant  tailor. 

Q.  In  passing  into  spirit  life,  how  long  a  time  was  you  un- 
conscious ? 

A.  Having  no  memory  of  it  myself,  I  have  to  rely  entirely 
upon  others,  especially  my  mother,  who  was  waiting  for  me ; 
she  informs  me  that  it  was  about  an  hour  and  a  half.  1  had 
been  quite  unconscious  several  days,  consequent  upon  a  fever, 
but  just  before  dissolution,  perhaps  for  one  hour,  I  became 
entirely  conscious,  free  from  all  delirium,  so  that  I  was  per- 
fectly aware  of  my  condition.  After  bidding  my  friends  fare- 
well, there  came  over  me  the  sweetest  sense  of  rest  that  I  had 
ever  experienced.  This  deepened,  until  finally  my  vision 
closed ;  all  things  grew  dark.  Next  hearing  was  closed  ;  all 
things  grew  silent.  But  in  that  utter  darkness  and  silence 
there  was  complete  consciousness  of  existence,  and  the  most 
profound  rest  and  confidence  in  the  bosom  of  the  infinite  life. 
Gradually  consciousness  itself  faded  into  oblivion.  When  I 
awoke,  my  first  realization  was  simply  a  feeling  of  myself. 
Gradually  my  powers  increased  until  I  perceived  my  body 
lying  under  me,  while  I,  the  man  in  spirit,  was  floating  in 
the  air  some  three  feet  above  it.  Next  I  perceived  my  physi- 
cal surroundings,  the  friends  who  were  about  the  body  weep- 
ing. I  made  an  effort  to  make  them  realize  my  presence, 
but  soon  found  that  I  could  not  reach  them.  Next  came  the 
recognition  of  my  mother  and  several  other  spirit  friends. 
Soon  I  came  into  full  consciousness  of  my  immediate  sur- 
roundings. In  my  investigations  in  subsequent  years  I  liave 
witnessed  thousands  of  instances  of  the  process  of  death,  and 
have  learned  that  the  spirit  body  is  never  disorganized,  but 
moves   as   a   whole    towards  the    head,   and  then   gradually 


182  IMMORTALITY. 

emerges  from  the  physical  form  through  the  head  until  it  is 
free  from  the  body.  The  separation  is  complete  only  when 
the  life-cord  Avhich  connects  spirit  and  body  is  severed.  In 
cases  of  death  by  violence  this  life-cord  is  not  parted  for  a 
considerable  time. 

Q.  At  this  time,  being  conscious  of  the  presence  of  your 
mother  and  other  spirits,  how  long  did  you  remain  in  the 
room? 

A.  Perhaps  two  hours ;  then  we  passed  out  into  the  atmos- 
phere, and  moved  forward  until  we  arrived  at  my  mother's 
home.  Here  I  found  many  friends  awaiting  my  arrival. 
Usually  I  find  that  but  a  limited  number  of  friends  come  to 
you  at  the  time  of  your  passage  from  the  body  into  spirit  life 
—  only  those  who  can  assist  you.*  Here,  after  a  time,  I  was 
left  alone  to  rest.  The  sweet  repose  that  followed  was  much 
like  sleep,  except  that  I  was  fully  conscious.  While  my  bod- 
ily organs  slumbered  in  a  kind  of  quiet  melody,  my  soul  was 
wakeful  and  active. 

Q.   Was  your  external  clothing  prepared  for  you  ? 

A.  It  was,  and  brought  to  me  and  put  upon  me  when  I 
first  escaped  from  the  physical  tenement. 

Q.  Did  this  spiritual  clothing  correspond  to  the  spiritual 
status  of  your  spiritual  life? 

A.  I  afterwards  perceived  that  it  did,  although  I  had  no 
consciousness  of  this  correspondence  at  the  time.  For  six 
years  after  entering  spirit  life  I  was  restless  and  dissatisfied, 
seeking  far  and  wide  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  fixed  notions  I 
had  in  earth  life.  I  was  a  rigid  Presbyterian  by  faith.  I  in- 
terrogated my  mother,  who  simply  answered  me,  "  My  son, 
await  the  growth  of  thy  soul  to  perceive  truth."  At  length 
there  came  over  me  a  !?ph-it  of  acceptance,  a  feeling  that  I 
must  take  life  as  the  Infinite  Will  and  Wisdom  and  Love  had 
prepared  it  for  me.  That  once  fully  fixed  in  my  soul,  I  be- 
came most  thoroughly  satisfied  and  happy.  From  that  hour 
I  have  pressed  forward  in  all  the  paths  of  progress  as  rapidly 

•  Some  yeai-3  ago  the  reporter  received  a  message  through  T.  L.  HaiTis,  in  which 
the  spirit  said ;  "There  are  certain  spirits  who  arc  called  'deliverers,*  who  attend  at 
the  birth  of  the  spirit,  — that  which  jrou  call  the  death." 


TESTIMONY   OF   PERSONS   IN   SPIRIT   LfFE.  133 

as  was  possible  for  my  nature.  Oue  of  the  bitterest  things 
that  millions  experience  in  spirit  life  is  this  utter  failure  to 
realize  the  preconceived  notions  that  were  contracted  in  the 
earthly  state. 

Q.  Do  you  still  reside  in  the  same  local  home?  or  have 
you  a  home  of  your  own  ? 

A.  I  soon  went  out  and  formed  for  myself  a  home,  with  a 
band  of  chosen  persons,  six  in  number.  We  live  in  one  resi- 
dence —  three  males  and  three  females.  Usually  societies  in 
spirit  life  are  grouped  according  to  the  character  of  their 
loves,  and  six  is  the  smallest  subdivision  —  the  family  unit 
—  constituting  a  trinity  of  three  pairs.  Larger  families  are 
usually  a  multiple  of  six,  as  thirty-six,  it  being  desirable  to 
secure  the  harmony  which  results  from  working  these  num- 
bers together.  In  the  homes  thus  instituted  all  follow  their 
intellectual  bias,  and  bring  the  results  to  the  home  for  the 
benefit  of  all.     Diversity  in  unity  is  thus  realized. 

Q.  Did  you  soon  desire  to  return  to  earth  and  communi- 
cate with  mortals,  informing  them  of  your  new  surroundings 
and  teachings  ? 

A.  Not  until  after  my  full  acceptance  of  spirit  life  as  I 
found  it. 

Q.  Are  there  not  spirits  in  that  life  who  are  really  opposed 
to  returning  to  earth  ? 

A.  Indeed  there  are.  While  some  are  indifferent,  being 
absorbed  in  the  pursuits  that  engage  their  minds. 

Q.   Have  you  a  teacher  ? 

A.  Many  of  them.  Each  specific  subject  that  I  pursue 
has  a  teacher  specially  devoted  to  it.  We  have  large  insti- 
tutions of  learning,  and  in  each  institution  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  teachers.  Teaching  is  usually  by  means  of  representa- 
tive objects. 

Q.   Is  thought  a  spirit  substance  ? 

A.    It  is  spirit  substance  in  motion. 

Q.   What  is  the  difference  between  a  thought  and  an  idea? 

A.  Thought  is  a  spirit  substance  in  motion,  while  an  idea 
is  the  ever-enduring  principle  or  statical  form  of  spirit  sub 
stance. 


l34  IMMORTALITY. 

Q.  When  we  enter  spirit  life,  is  not  our  spirit  hair  the  samd 
it  would  have  been  if  left  to  grow  its  natural  length  ? 

A.   Yes,  if  so  desired. 

Q.  Why  not  lengthen  or  shorten  the  spiritual  body  at  will 
as  well  as  the  hair  ? 

A.  The  hair  is  a  vegetable  life  attached  to  the  human 
body.  It  has  nothing  in  it  but  vegetable,  and  that  vegetable 
is  to  a  certain  extent  under  the  control  of  the  will. 

Q.   Are  the  blood  disks  vegetable  in  their  nature? 

A.  They  are  to  a  certain  extent.  They  convey  the  vege- 
table of  the  body  from  point  to  point,  and  are  the  connecting 
links  between  the  vegetable  and  animal  life. 

Q.   Can  spirits  dispose  at  will  of  their  spiritual  be*rd  ? 

A.  They  can  by  uprooting  it,  as  certain  Indian  tribes  on 
earth  do. 

Q.  Do  you  find  in  spirit  life  that  the  thoughts,  desires, 
plans,  and  purposes  of  the  earth  life  were  so  impressed  upon 
your  spiritual  body  and  brain  that  other  spirits  can  read  them 
thereon  by  simply  seeing  the  spirit  ? 

A.  Those  who  are  in  the  higher  conditions  of  spirit  life 
can  read  you  through  and  through ;  so  much  so,  that  lan- 
guage is  unnecessary,  the  thought-pictures  being  perceived 
by  the  inspecting  intelligence.  But  in  the  lower  societies 
there  is  a  limited  power  to  conceal  from  each  orLar  the  inter- 
nal mental  states. 

Q.  Do  you  find  many  ancient  spirits,  that  have  lived  per- 
haps ten,  fifteen,  or  twenty  thousand  years  ago,  that  still  take 
an  interest  in  the  inhabitants  of  earth  ? 

A.  But  a  very  limited  number.  The  great  mass  of  ancient 
Bpirits  have  passed  on  from  the  spirit  spheres  immediately 
connected  with  earth.  But  there  are  a  few  who  descend  into 
the  forms  of  society  they  have  long  since  left  in  a  mediato- 
rial capacity.  By  using  intermediate  persons  in  spirit,  they 
connect  themselves  with  you,  and  impress  and  inspire  you 
with  the  grandeur  that  belongs  to  their  estate  of  life. 
When  you  are  brought  in  contact  with  these  ancients  you 
experience  a  peculiar  expansion  of  soul  and  far-reaching  per- 


TESTIMONY  OF  PERSONS   IN   SPLRIT   LIFE.  135 

ception  quite  unknown  to  your  habitual  mental  states.  You 
are  thereby  made  to  feel  sympathetically  your  connection 
with  a  region  of  pure  thought  and  lofty  dignity. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  Pythagoras  or  Plato,  Pericles  or 
Seneca,  Demosthenes  or  Cicero  —  those  sages  of  Egypt, 
Greece,  and  Rome  ? 

A.  I  have  seen  Seneca  and  Demosthenes,  and  quite  a 
Dumber  of  ancient  persons  with  whom  the  world  are  not 
acquainted  —  whose  names  have  not  been  handed  down  to 
the  historic  period. 

Q.  Should  a  man,  looking  from  your  standpoint,  always 
live  up  to  his  ideal  in  act,  thought,  and  work  of  life  ? 

A.  He  most  certainly  should,  especially  where  moral  duty 
is  involved.  If  he  does  not,  there  will  come  a  time  when  he 
will  regret  lost  opportunities.  Perfection  of  character  is 
attained  by  continually  striving  to  realize  one's  ideal. 

Q.  If  I  should  do  that,  I  would  let  my  hair  grow  at  full 
length ;  I  should  put  on  the  half-robe  of  the  Brahman ;  I 
should  wear  on  my  feet  a  sort  of  sandal ;  I  should  travel  and 
dispose  of  books,  and  pamphlets,  and  papers,  and  lecture 
without  money  and  without  price,  simply  saying.  Put  clothes 
on  my  back  and  food  into  my  mouth.  This  is  my  ideal,  and 
yet  if  I  were  to  do  it  they  would  put  me  into  a  lunatic  asylum. 
What  shall  I  do  about  it? 

A.  Every  man  is  gifted  with  reason  so  that  he  can  adapt 
himself  to  his  surroundings.  Through  the  exercise  of  your 
reason  you  must  compromise  these  peculiar  feelings  and  de- 
sires that  you  have ;  they  are  an  influx  from  ancient  spirits 
who  are  about  you.  You  must  needs  compromise  some  of 
these  with  the  external  life  you  are  compelled  to  live. 

Q.  What  about  the  five  thousand  people  being  fed  ?  Was 
that  a  process  of  materialization  ? 

A.  It  certainly  was,  if  it  ever  took  place.  If  I  were  to 
spiritualize  the  figures  of  speech  common  to  that  age  and 
country,  I  should  say,  it  was  not  fishes,  it  was  not  loaves,  but 
it  was  spiritual  power  that  went  out  and  filled  the  hearers. 

Q.   Now  in  regard  to  your  spirit  home.     You  have  flowers ; 


136  IMMOBTALITY. 

if  you  pluck  these  from  the  stem,  do  they  wither  like  earthly 
flowers? 

A.  That  depends  upon  your  desire.  It  is  truly  marvelous 
how  potent  the  will  becomes  to  control  the  surroundings  in 
spirit  life.  It  is  possible  to  construct  a  bower  of  flowers  by 
the  power  of  will  even  without  the  intervention  of  the  hands. 
In  a  thousand  ways  the  will  may  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
living,  throbbing  materials  about  us,  until  our  surroundings 
are  the  ensemble  of  our  inmost  mental  states. 

Q.  Is  it  possible  for  intelligent,  highly-exalted,  chemical 
spirits  to  materialize  the  life-principle  or  physical  basis  of  a 
human  germ  so  as  to  beget  offspring  independent  of  the  union 
of  physical  parents,  or  even  in  the  absence  of  the  physically 
masculine  office  ? 

A.  We  do  not  believe  it  is  possible  ;  but  we  believe  it  pos- 
sible that  spirits  who  are  in  a  proper  condition  can  take  the 
life-principle  from  the  masculine  organism,  transport  it  to  the 
feminine  receptacle,  and  thus  commence  a  new  being  without 
the  personal  contact  of  the  parents.  Moreover,  where  the 
parents  are  very  mediuraistic,  the  new  gestating  life  may  be 
80  charged  with  the  vital  magnetism  of  controlling  guardians 
that  the  resultant  being  shall  be  neither  like  the  father  nor 
mother,  but  a  copy  of  the  model  to  which  the  guardian  forces 
were  subordinated.  We  believe  that  Jesus  received  his  physi- 
cal body  in  this  manner.  And  other  characters,  we  believe, 
who  came  into  the  world  to  accomplish  a  certain  work  had 
their  antecedents  of  birth  wisely  arranged  by  convocations  of 
celestial  intelligences. 

Q  One  question  more :  What  is  the  great  soul-desire  that 
wells  up  in  your  being  at  this  present  time,  after  your  long 
experience  as  a  spirit  ? 

A.   It  is  to  learn  more  of  the  truth. 

Q.    What  is  your  object  in  learning  more  truth  ? 

A.  It  is  to  gratify  that  restless  desire  of  the  soul  to  ap- 
proach nearer  to  the  Divine  Life  which  is  All  Truth. 

Q.   Is  not  that  motive  selfish  ? 

A.   It  may  be ;  but,  nevertheless,  it  is  true. 


TESTIMONY  OF  PERSONS  IN   SPIEIT   LIFE.  137 

Q.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  say  that  your  highest  desire 
is  to  teach  the  truth  to  humanity,  and  that  you  seek  the  truth 
to  this  end? 

A.  The  highest  attainment  of  a  human  being  is  dependent 
upon  this  selfish  desire.  We  must  become  self-centered  before 
we  are  prepared  for  the  divinest  service.  Then  we  shall  de- 
sire to  give  away ;  then  we  cannot  continue  to  gather  save 
we  distribute  to  others. 

An  English  PhysiciarCa  History:  through  the  Mediumship  of 
Mrs.  C.  Woodford. 

I  have  been  in  spirit  life  forty-eight  years,  and  died  when 
thirty-five  years  of  age.  I  was  a  physician,  and  my  life  in 
the  body  —  I  say  it  with  all  humility  —  had  been  as  useful  as 
I  could  well  make  it. 

When  entering  spirit  life,  and  becoming  conscious  of  my 
surroundings,  I  discovered  at  once  that  I  had  a  home,  and  in 
it  I  was  not  alone,  but  in  the  company  of  those  I  had  loved 
upon  earth  —  those  who  had  preceded  me.  Some  of  these  I 
have  since  left,  for  here  we  are  joined  together  by  concordant 
states.  I  am  with  them  only  when  it  suits  me,  and  when  I 
feel  that  I  can  spiritually  benefit  them. 

Now  I  have  a  higher  home,  and  a  far  more  beautiful  one, 
in  that  heavenly  society  which  I  have  been  permitted  to  join. 
This  home  has,  so  to  speak,  grown  about  me  in  exact  corres- 
pondence to  my  nature.  All  that  I  innately  possess  of  the 
beautiful  is  here  expressed  in  outward  semblance  ;  all  that 
can  gratify  my  highest  aspirations  surrounds  me  in  some  form 
which  responds  to  the  inner  emotion  or  sentiment.  In  my 
home  I  read  myself,  for  I  have  made  it,  —  my  individuality  is 
stamped  upon  all  around  as  if  it  were  a  mirror  giving  me 
back  myself  in  correspondential  objects.  For  the  spirit  home 
is  the  home  of  the  mind,  and  it  is  the  mind  which  must  there 
rejoice  —  there  live.  A  man  on  earth  makes  liis  home  as  well 
as  his  means  and  the  circumstances  in  his  life  will  permit ; 
but  in  the  spirit  world  the  externals  surrounding  him  become 
a  picture  of  what  he  is.     A  man  who  lives  for  self  alone,  per- 


188  IMMORTALITY. 

haps  at  war  with  his  fellow-man  in  the  great  struggle  of 
^^get  tvhat  you  can^^' — such  a  man  finds  himself  in  the  condi- 
tion of  external  poverty  corresponding  to  his  own  poverty  of 
spirit,  for  he  dies  spiritually  poor.  The  smallest  act  of  kind- 
ness, mercy,  compassion,  of  aid,  of  self-denial,  of  intellectual 
or  bodily  labor,  to  please,  benefit,  instruct,  or  help  others,  will 
make  its  own  beauty  around  the  spirit,  and  will  be  found  in 
some  living  ol)joct  in  the  spirit  home,  objects  which  describe 
themselves  to  the  wise  spirit  in  the  forms  they  wear,  and  are 
sources  of  satisfaction  or  joy. 

Man,  in  the  interior  sense,  is  his  own  house-builder  in  the 
spirit  world,  and  the  weaver  of  his  own  garments.  A  man 
who  has  been  spiritually  poor  on  earth  will  find  himself  asso- 
ciated with  scenes  of  poverty  in  spirit  life. 

My  house  is  what  on  earth  would  be  called  a  palace  —  the 
palace  of  my  mind  ;  of  apartments  various  and  numerous, 
adorned  according  to  the  mental  tastes  I  cultivated  on  earth, 
and  thus  made  my  own  ;  for  as  you  soiv  8o  shall  you  reap;  ac- 
cording also  to  those  higher  spiritual  tastes  of  which  I  vaguely 
dreamed  in  the  earth  life,  and  have  realized  since  I  came 
here.  If  a  man  will  study  himself  spiritually,  he  will  under- 
stand from  his  different  mental  states  somewhat  of  those 
various  apartments  of  his  spirit  home  which  I  would  speak 
of.  There  are  times  when  he  delights  in  the  company  of 
friends,  or  in  hours  of  study ;  but  there  are  sacred  moments 
upon  which  no  being,  not  even  the  dearest  on  earth,  may  in- 
trude. There  is  in  spirit  homes  a  holy  of  holies,  a  chamber 
aj)art  and  sheltered  from  every  eye ;  therein  the  spirit  retires 
when  engaged  in  contemplation,  or  in  that  state  when  he 
communes  with  the  Father,  and  receives  more  plentifully  of 
His  Spirit.  There  is  also  the  guest-chamber,  or  chambers, 
where  friends  meet.  Our  houses  do  not  resemble  those  of 
earth  in  all  details,  for  we  have  no  vicissitudes  of  climate, 
no  uncleanness,  no  noxious  insects  or  animals,  no  fear  of 
thieves.  We  have  no  need  of  fires,  nor  do  we  require  to 
cook  oui  food.     Other  spirits  in  lower  spheres  may.     I  will 


TESTIMONY  OF   PERSONS   IN   SPIRIT   LIFE.  139 

here  permit  my  medium  to  describe  a  guest-chamber  in  my 
home,  which  she  beheld  clairvoyantly  not  long  since. 

"  I  seemed  to  stand  beside  W.,  in  a  vast  apartment  where 
at  first  my  attention  was  quite  absorbed  by  a  lovely  table ;  so 
marvelously  beautiful  vvas  it  that  I  could  look  at  nothing  else 
until  I  had  mastered  all  its  details.  Of  a  substance  purely 
white  like  Parian  marble,  oval  in  form,  not  resting  upon  legs 
as  tables  ordinarily  do,  but  gracefully  sloping  inwards  in  many 
a  beautiful  contour  of  leaf  and  tendril,  to  a  central  base,  as  a 
vase  or  tazza  might  be  formed.  It  is  impossible  to  give  an 
idea  of  the  delicate  beauty  of  form,  or  the  exquisite  carving 
of  the  sides  and  bottom,  nor  of  the  purity  of  its  substance, 
resembling  Parian  marble,  but  more  transparent.  From  its 
center  a  small  fountain  threw  its  glittering  waters  up  into  the 
air,  seeming  to  spring  from  the  very  breasts  of  the  lovely 
flowers  which  rested  there.  Drinking-cups  of  gold  set  with 
gems  stood  around,  intermingled  with  pyramids  of  rarest- 
beauty.  As  I  turned  my  eyes  from  the  table,  the  beauty  of 
the  whole  apartment  burst  upon  my  sight.  Spacious  in  length 
and  breadth  as  it  was,  all  one  side  was  open  to  the  air,  the 
roof  being  supported  upon  a  double  row  of  stately  columns, 
between  the  shafts  of  which  my  eyes  rested  upon  a  lovely  land- 
scape, where  in  the  distance  ran  a  river  ;  and  a  row  of  arches 
also,  something  like  those  on  the  Roman  Campagna,  but  not  in 
ruins,  traversed  the  scene.  I  had  but  a  glance,  catching  sight 
also  of  several  robed  figures  in  the  apartment,  when  W.  said, 
*  Now  come  down  these  steps  I '  I  glanced  up  and  around 
again,  to  see  that  the  ceiling  or  roof  of  this  lovely  chamber 
was  transparent  and  of  prismatic  hues,  and  that  the  wall  or 
side  not  open  to  the  air  was  covered  closely  with  flowering, 
creeping  plants,  surrounding  mirrors  and  pictures,  and  growing 
so  thickly  that  it  seemed  a  wall  of  flowers  and  leaves.  I  ob- 
served also  that  pure  white  and  gorgeous-colored  birds  were 
flying  in  and  out.  I  followed  W.  down  gleaming  white  steps 
at  one  end  of  this  chamber  out  upon  a  sunny  lawn,  where 
were  beds  of  flowers,  and  groves  of  trees,  and  a  large  central 


140  IMMORTAL  [TY. 

fountain  springing  from  a  basin  having  the  hues  of  a  diamond 
Then  my  vision  passed." 

Q.  How  is  your  spirit-clothing  constructed? 

A.  My  spirit-clothing  is  the  outgrowth  of  ray  mental  states 
It  forms  itself  upon  my  bod}^  and  is  instantaneously  in  form 
according  as  my  mind  may  vary  its  emotions,  or  frame  of 
thought.  This  is  so  natural  a  thing  with  us  that  it  excites  no 
comment ;  on  the  contrar}^  if  it  did  not  occur  we  should  won- 
der, and  inquire.  My  clothing  is  of  silk,  velvet,  lace,  cloth 
of  gold  (or  what  would  seem  so  to  clairvoyants  of  earth), 
gauzy  muslins,  or  simply  white  materials  neither  thick  .nor 
thin.  The  nearer  earth  the  more  like  earthly  manufactures 
of  woven  threads  are  the  clothings  of  spirits ;  the  more  re- 
mote from  earth,  or  the  higher  in  the  spirit  world,  the  less 
like  the  fabrics  of  earth,  of  an  attenuated  gauziness  of  texture 
indescribable,  and  transparently  luminous,  as  are  also  the  very 
bodies  of  these  spirits.  In  the  highest  heavens  angels  are 
clothed  upon  with  innocence,  and  are  garmentless;  but  de- 
scending to  lower  spheres  on  acts  of  beneficence,  appear 
clothed. 

Flowers  and  gems  form  part  of  our  personal  adornments; 
these  too  are  the  outgrowth  of  the  spirit,  and  are  purely  cor- 
respondential  to  gifts  of  the  spirit.  The  form,  shape,  or  fash- 
ion of  the  clothing  is  correspondential  also,  and  the  status, 
dignity  of  office,  or  occupation  of  a  spirit,  is  known  by  the 
fashion  of  his  clothing.  Colors  also,  being  entirely  symbolical, 
are  expressive  of  conditions  or  states.  Swedenborg  has  de- 
scribed spirits  as  changing  their  clothes  according  to  fancy. 
This,  in  a  measure,  is  true,  but  does  not  destroy  the  fact  I 
have  stated  of  the  fashion  and  character  of  the  clothes  chang- 
ing upon  the  body,  assuming  almost  instantaneous  changes  of 
texture,  color,  and  shape,  according  to  the  change  of  thought 
or  feeling. 

Will  is  the  creator :  the  will  of  man  is  according  to  his  love, 
which  in  reality  makes  the  man.  If  a  man  be  of  evil  loves, 
that  is,  if  his  inclinations  which  have  their  birth  in  affection 
or  love  be  evil,  his  life  will  necessarily  be  evil ;  but  if  his  love, 


TESTIMONY   OF   PERSONS   IN    SPIRIT   LIFE.  141 

inclination,  will,  be  for  good,  the  life  will  be  goc-d ;  hence  in 
the  spirit  world,  the  will  being  creative,  all  the  surroundings  of 
man  are  the  offspring  of  his  will  or  love :  he  is  the  inevitable 
creator  of  his  own  world  there,  and  can  be  surrounded  only 
by  similitudes  of  himself.  A  large  company  or  society  of  like- 
minded  spirits,  therefore,  form  a  heaven  in  which  the  scener}', 
homes,  and  externals  are  representative  of  the  nature  or  char- 
acter of  the  spirits  thus  dwelling  from  similarity  of  loves  in 
company  (I  use  the  word  loves  to  express  the  variety  of  affec- 
tions, tastes,  likings,  which  are  of  the  will).  A  spirit  ap- 
proaching from  another  society  detects  instantaneously  in  the 
aura  or  atmosphere  the  nature  of  the  love  of  the  society  he 
approaches.  Atmospheres  are  redolent  of  perfumes  in  heaven, 
for  goodness,  sweetness,  gentleness,  benevolence,  intellectu- 
ality, wisdom,  every  great  and  noble  gift  of  the  spirit,  has  its 
own  essential  pure  fragrance. 

Q.    How  do  you  travel  in  spirit  life  ? 

A.  The  mode  of  locomotion  in  spirit  life  is  according  to 
the  pleasure  of  the  spirit.  A  spirit  may  be  conveyed  with 
the  rapidity  almost  of  thought  through  space,  according  to 
the  eagerness  of  his  desire ;  or  he  may  leisurely  convey  him- 
self by  walking,  by  floating,  or  sailing  in  a  boat  ;'or,  if  on  land, 
by  a  kind  of  carriage  propelled  by  sails.  All  these  modes  of 
conveyance  correspond  to  some  frame  of  mind.  Spirits  are 
also  seen  upon  horses,  and  in  chariots. 

Q,   AVhat  is  your  special  work? 

A.  My  occupation  is  at  present  much  upon  the  earth,  aid- 
ing this  medium  in  her  work.  At  other  times  I  am  simply 
pursuing  that  life  which  is  most  agreeable  to  my  character  of 
mind  —  contemplation,  study,  the  society  of  the  wise  and 
learned  in  the  things  of  the  spirit,  and  in  those  inexhaustible 
pleasures  of  existence  which  are  the  birthright  of  all  who 
have  not  destroyed  their  right  on  earth. 

Q.    Have  you  visited  other  planets  ? 

A.  I  have  not  yet  visited  other  planets,  except  by  that 
sight  which  your  clairvoyants  have,  and  which  is  exercised  by 


142  IMMORTALITY. 

spirits  in  a  superior  manner;  but  there  are  limits  to  even  a 
spirit's  interior  sight. 

Q.  What  do  you  conceive  to  be  the  final  destiny  of  the 
human  soul  ? 

A.  I  understand  by  the  human  soul  the  spiritual  body, 
called  by  the  French  '■'■  perisprit,'"  by  others  the  "  astral  man,'' 
&c.  Within  is  the  human  spirit,  termed  by  some  the  soul. 
The  human  spirit  or  soul  never  ceases  to  progress  through  all 
eternity,  rising  ever  to  higher  and  higher  states  of  beatitude, 
becoming  more  and  more  at  one  with  the  Father,  until  it  is 
all  divine  and  like  unto  God. 


THE  HOMES  OF   APOSTLES   AJSD  DI VINES.  143 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE  HOMES  OF  APOSTLES   AND   DIVINES. 

"  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  ...  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you." 

JE8U8. 

The  Home  of  the  Apostle  John.     By  the  Spirit  Aaron  Knight^ 
through  the  Mediumship  of  E.  €.  Dunn. 

You  ask  for  a  description  of  the  home  and  the  sunoundinga 
of  him  whom  I  am  proud  to  acknowledge  one  of  my  divine 
teachers.  Though  I  have  visited  this  palace  in  tlie  skies,  I 
cannot  find  language  competent  to  describe  it.  And  before 
making  the  attempt,  let  me  impress  upon  your  mind  that 
spirits,  like  mortals,  translate  the  facts  and  scenery  of  the 
heavens  in  accordance  with  the  limitations  of  individual  per- 
ception much  as  minds  do  on  earth. 

I  have  frequently  assured  you  that  there  should  be  kept  in 
view  the  wide  difference  that  exists  between  what  a  distin- 
guished seer  designates  as  the  Spiritual  Heavens  and  the 
Celestial  Heavens.  All  mortals,  when  disenthralled  from  the 
physical  body,  are  in  the  world  of  spirits,  but  not  necessarily 
in  the  spiritual  world,  nor  in  the  angel  realms  of  perfection. 
Some  spirits  take  up  their  immediate  abode  just  above  their 
former  earthly  homes,  casting  upon  them  a  powerful  psycho- 
logical influence.  Miserly  spirits  linger  about  their  vaults ; 
and  others,  disorderly  and  maliciously  inclined,  cling  to  their 
previous  localities,  producing  magnetic  conditions  suitable  for 
haunting  houses,  for  producing  obsessions  and  nervous  dis- 
eases. These  spirit  spheres  enzone  the  earth  in  circles,  the 
first  of  which  lies  many  leagues  beyond  the  altitude  of  your 
atmosphere  as  estimated  by  scientists.     Moreover,  the  more 


144  oiMORTALrrr. 

exalted  spirits  experience  a  depression  when  descending  into 
the  lower  stratum  of  your  atmosphere  analogous  to  what 
you  experience  when  descending  into  a  damp  vault  or  subter- 
ranean retreat.  Again,  the  upper  regions  of  your  atmosphere 
are  free  from  the  malaria  and  foetid  odors  which  perv^ade  the 
lower  portion.  As  you  ascend,  the  oxygen,  ozone,  and  vital- 
izing properties  are  augmented.  In  the  first  spheral  belts 
that  engirdle  your  earth  are  birds,  animals,  insects;  but  they 
are  the  necessities  —  the  outbirths  of  these  different  spheres 
—  spheres  in  which  you  find  the  scholarly  plane,  the  inven- 
tive, the  musical,  the  domestic,  and  every  other  phase  of  so- 
cial and  mental  development.  In  the  Celestial  Heavens  loves 
partake  more  of  the  universal.  Here  there  are  no  animals. 
They  are  not  desired.  Affections  flow  out  toward  and  find 
their  satisfaction  in  communion  with  earthly  and  heavenly 
intelligences. 

But  you  ask  for  a  description  of  John's  abode.  On  a 
golden  belt,  lying  far  out  and  away  from  the  deleterious  influ- 
ences of  the  earth  or  any  other  planet,  there's  a  home  in  the 
cloud-lands  —  a  home  comparable  to  a  sunny  isle  floating  upon 
a  sapphire  sea.  Leaving  the  aural  belts  and  zones  that  environ 
your  earth,  and  traversing  vast  spaces,  bearing  a  little  to  the 
southward,  we  reach  the  southern  portion  of  this  beautiful 
island.  Passing  onward  from  this  point  through  magnificent 
scenery,  through  beautiful  groves,  whose  overbending  branches 
are  more  sensitive  to  the  conditions  of  spirit  life  than  sensi- 
tive planets  are  to  the  rude  touch  of  mortals,  —  passing  gai  - 
dens  and  ornamental  trees,  the  waving  leaflets. of  which  keep 
time  to  the  enchanting  music  of  angel  life,  —  we  finally  reach 
an  undulating  lawn,  the  grasses  of  which,  tremulously  vibra- 
ting, form  a  pathway  for  the  white  feet  that  press  their  tender 
blades.  Soon  we  approach  the  center  of  this  isle  of  beauty,  a 
description  of  which  earthly  language  is  inadequate. 

As  forces  emanate  from  centers,  so  from  the  center  of  this 
.sland  there  is  an  ever-living  fountain,  the  crystal  jets  and 
sprays  of  which,  rising  high  above  the  foliage,  fall  back  upon 
leaflets  and  blossoms,  and  upon  trees  laden  with  perpetual 


THE   HOMES   OF   APOSTLES   AND   DIVINES.  145 

fruitage  ;  the  surplus  forming  a  magnificent  lake  with  waters 
as  limpid  as  they  are  pure  and  placid.  Upon  the  shores  of 
this  lake  are  all  kinds  of  creeping  vines,  and  flowers  heavy 
with  sweetest  perfumes.  In  the  waving  trees  are  a  variety  of 
birds  whose  warbling  notes,  like  echoes,  return  their  dupli- 
cate songs ;  and  so  sensitive  are  the  delicate  productions  of 
this  divina  realm  that  the  lilies  and  opening  blossoms  give 
forth  ^olian  melodies,  mingling  and  blending  with  the  choral 
music  of  the  birds. 

As  everything  in  the  higher  forms  of  nature  tends  to  the 
oval,  like  the  rose  and  the  orange,  like  descending  dewdrops 
and  worlds,  so  this  lake  is  circular.  Just  beyond  the  margin 
of  these  placid  waters  stands  a  grand  and  imposing  temple. 
The  central  structure  is  circular,  while  the  height  is  beauti- 
fully proportioned  to  the  base.  Around  the  interior  circular 
wall  are  balconies  which  ascend  to  the  very  dome,  which 
dome  is  aflame  with  a  sun-illumined  splendor.  In  the  center 
of  a  capacious  room,  near  the  dome,  is  a  circular  library, 
poised  upon  a  pivot,  the  volumes  of  which  are  replete  with 
the  condensed  wisdom  of  the  ages.  On  the  walls  within  the 
balconies  are  suspended  life-like  pictures  of  distinguished  mor- 
tals, and  some  of  the  mighty  spirits  of  antiquity.  The  doors 
and  windows  are  arched.  In  the  apartments,  elegant  and 
chaste,  are  oval  niches  filled  with  speaking  statuary.  In  one 
of  these  consecrated  departments  I  observed  the  statues  of 
Jesus  and  the  apostles.  Looking  out  from  this  apartment  to 
the  south  is  a  crescent-formed  conservatory  in  which  perpet- 
ually bloom  rarest  and  choicest  flowers  —  flowers  so  exqui- 
sitely tender  that  the  breath  of  a  mortal  would  seemingly 
destroy  them,  as  would  a  white-heated  furnace  the  most  sen- 
sitive tissue. 

On  different  sides  of  this  templed  structure  are  semicircu- 
lar apartments  used  for  meditation,  heart  culture,  and  spirit- 
ual rest;  one  of  these  is  especially  dedicated  to  silent-soul 
communion,  where  the  beloved  John  retires  to  commune  with 
his  inmost  self  and  the  soul  of  nature,  thus  coming  into  such 
10 


146  IMMORTALITY. 

harmonious  relations  with  nature  that  all  knowledge,  so  to 
speak,  becomes  subject  to  his  will. 

The  outer  walls  of  this  temple  are  overhung  and  festooned 
with  gracefully  growing  and  blossoming  vines,  the  delicious 
fragrance  of  which  yields  perfumes  for  the  senses,  ethereal" 
ized  auras  for  the  spiritual  body,  and  heavenly  manna  for  the 
soul  —  ay,  more,  the  incense  or  the  outflowing  fragrance, 
inhaled  from  these  perennial  flowers  and  fruits,  not  only  sup- 
ports the  demands  of  refined  spiritual  natures,  but  affords 
rest,  peace,  joy,  and  ecstasy  absolutely  inexpressible. 

Such  is  our  feeble  attempt  to  describe  this  home,  where  a 
soul  robed  in  white  breathes  the  atmosphere  of  love,  and 
feasts  upon  the  sacred  wisdom  of  the  gods.  This,  or  similar 
homes,  shall  be  yours,  my  brother  —  shall  be  yours,  O  chil- 
dren of  earth,  when  ye  are  worthy  1 

Ancient  sages  come  in  chariots  of  flame  to  visit  this  heavenly 
Patmos  in  a  sapphire  sea  —  come  to  counsel  with  him  who, 
once  under  Syrian  skies,  so  sorrowfully  yet  tenderly,  leaned 
upon  the  bosom  of  Jesus.  John  —  to  many  of  us  the  ideal 
of  love  —  seldom  visits  the  earth  or  any  of  the  zones  imme- 
diately encircling  it.  He  is  a  counselor  in  the  higher  courts 
of  the  heavenly  life. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Scott'' 8  Confession  and  Progress  in  Spirit  Life^ 
through  the  Mediumship  of  W.  H.  Lamhelle^  of  England. 
I  was  born  in  Lincolnshire,  England,  but  received  much  of 
my  education  at  an  endowed  school  in  Yorkshire.  Being  of 
a  reflective  turn  of  mind,  I  often  thought  of  the  uncertainty 
of  human  life,  but  put  off  religious  thoughts  and  convictions 
to  a  more  convenient  season.  I  had  a  great  memory  and  de- 
sire to  shine  in  the  literary  world.  Hence  I  resolved  to  entei 
the  ministry.  I  was  proud,  ambitious,  and  desired  to  distin- 
guish myself.  These  selfish  motives  influenced  me  to  assume 
the  position  of  a  clergyman.  Preferments  came  to  me  un- 
sought for.  In  1785  I  was  elected  chaplain  of  the  l^ock 
Hospital.  In  1788  I  commenced  my  notes  on  the  Bible,  be- 
ing seven  years  after  I  had  been  presented  to  the  Vicarage  of 


THE   HOMES  OP  APOSTLES   AND  DIVINES.  147 

Aston  Sunford,  in  Buckinghamshire.  At  this  period  I  ac- 
cepted the  more  rigid  of  the  Calvinistic  doctrines,  and  on  every 
available  occasion  never  failed  to  preach  Christ  and  him  cru- 
cified—  Christ,  the  only  Saviour,  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of 
glory.  ...  At  length,  the  weak  constitution  that  I  originally 
inherited,  in  connection  with  arduous  religious  studies,  began 
to  give  way.  Death  stared  me  in  the  face.  To  the  last  mo- 
ment I  remained  in  full  possession  of  my  consciousness ;  my 
thoughts  were  firmly  fixed  upon  the  glory  to  be  immediately 
revealed  to  me,  through  the  presence  of  my  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  Calling  upon  his  name,  there  passed  through  my 
body  a  benumbing  sensation,  and  I  almost  instantly  found  my- 
self with  some  friendly  members  of  my  congregation,  who  had 
previously  died.  Welcoming,  they  conducted  me  to  an  im- 
mense plain,  dotted  with  flowers  and  studded  with  the  most 
perfect  mansions.  Here  resting,  there  came  to  me  a  being, 
seemingly  pure  and  bright,  whose  duty,  he  said,  it  was  to  in- 
struct and  conduct  me  through  some  of  the  spheres  of  glory. 

I  was  not  conscious  of  any  peculiar  changes  in  myself. 
My  memory,  my  faculties,  and  powers  of  understanding,  re- 
mained the  same  as  before  the  sensation  of  numbness,  except 
that  I  felt  the  weakness  of  an  enfeebled  'body,  and  I  might 
add,  there  was  a  fresh  strangeness  in  many  things  that  I  saw. 
My  transition  took  place  on  April  16,  1821. 

The  spirit  to  whom  I  referred  as  coming  to  instruct  me,  was 
on  earth  called  Martin  Luther.  He  conversed  about  my  new 
abode  and  mode  of  life,  informing  me  that  a  home  had  been 
prepared. for  me  in  accordance  with  my  tastes  and  moral 
worthiness,  and  that  he  would  conduct  me  to  it,  after  showing 
me  some  of  the  states  of  spiritual  existence. 

On  his  referring  to  my  doctrinal  beliefs,  and  attempting  to 
disabuse  my  mind  of  much  of  my  earthly  theology,  I  turned 
to  him  in  the  full  assurance  that  I  could  silence  him,  and 
quoted,  "  He  that  abideth  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  he  hath 
both  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If  there  come  any  unto  you, 
and  bring  not  this  doctrine,  receive  him  not  into  your  house, 
neither  bid  him  God-speed;    for  he  that  biddeth  him  God- 


148  IMMORTALITY. 

speed  is  partaker  of  his  evil  deeds."  This  opened  a  deep  and 
earnest  conversation.  We  talked  as  we  traveled,  but  I  was 
not  persuaded  that  the  "Prophet  of  Galilee"  was  anything 
less  than  the  incarnate  Son  of  God,  who  suffered  as  a  substi- 
tute for  our  sins.  How  else  could  it  be.  I  was  troubled ; 
anguish  filled  every  fiber  of  my  spiritual  being.  Spiritual 
friends  gathered  around  me,  and  I  prayed  that  I  might  see 
Jesus  of  Nazareth.  .  .  . 

My  guide  conducted  me  through  homes  of  bliss  and  enjoy- 
ment, and  spheres  of  transcendent  loveliness,  to  the  presence 
of  one  purporting  to  be  the  meek  and  lowly  one.  Seeing  him, 
the  mists  fell  from  my  eyes.  He  assured  me  that  he  was  not 
the  one  living  and  true  God  the  Father.  ...  He  was  so  lov- 
ing and  sweet-spirited  that  I  felt  sure  T  was  speaking  with 
him,  who  on  earth  said,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  Heaven." 
Though  he  has  a  most  divinely  commanding  appearance,  he  is 
gentle,  kind,  and  persuasive,  and  exercises  a  more  potent 
moral  influence  in  the  spirit-spheres  than  many  spirits  are  will- 
ing to  admit.  It  is  impossible  to  at  once  outgrow  earthly 
theories  and  dogmas. 

My  powers  of  flight  hardly  know  any  limits.  When  not 
otherwise  engaged,  I  dwell  in  a  home,  the  counterpart,  struc- 
turally considered,  somewhat  like  my  earthly  home.  I  did 
not  construct  it  myself  But  my  endeavors  have  tended  to 
beautify  it,  and  render  it  more  ethereal  and  attractive. 

The  final  destiny  of  souls  I  conceive  to  be  a  most  intimate 
union  with,  though  not  absorption  into  God ;  but  before  such 
exaltation  can  be  attained,  we  must  struggle  onward  through 
realms  of  discipline  and  progress,  until  we  have  cast  off  every 
impure  thought,  every  imperfect  desire,  every  earthly  taint  — 
until  we  are  spotless  and  stainless,  we  must  be  content  to 
labor  on  for  others'  good.  "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we 
shall  be,"  but  the  destination  is  evidently  divine  union  with 
God. 

There  are  dark,  mirthful,  and  malicious  spirits  in  the  lower 
spheres  —  the  sedimentary  realm  of  spirit-life.  It  is  a  part  of 
the  employment  of  the  higher  to  teach  and  uplift  the  lower. 


THE   HOMES   OF   APOSTLES   AND   DIVINES.  149 

But  it  is  not  all  spirits  that  can  descend  to  these  spheres; 
hence,  many  are  disposed  to  come  within  the  atmosphere  of 
earth,  and  within  the  influence  of  communicating  circles,  in 
order  that  the  influences  of  the  well-disposed,  yet  clothed  in 
material  habiliments,  may  form  a  bond  of  connection  through 
which  the  lower  intelligences  may  receive  instructions  and 
assistance  from  the  higher.  This  is  the  most  practical  way, 
but  it  has  the  disadvantage  that,  unless  a  spiritual  atmosphere 
is  breathed  by  those  in  the  circle  assembled,  they  will  have  a 
deleterious  rather  than  a  purifying  influence.  Did  opportu- 
nities favor,  I  should  have  been  pleased  to  have  said  more 
upon  this  last  topic,  as  it  really  forms  the  ground-work  oi 
spirit  communion  in  its  moral  and  reformatory  aspects. 
When  you  lecture,  my  friend,  you  address  at  the  same  time 
two  congregations,  one  clothed  in  mortal  bodies,  the  others 
in  spirit  life.  The  two  worlds  are  now  so  united,  sympatheti- 
cally and  spiritually,  that  what  educates  and  blesses  one, 
necessarily  has  a  similar  effect  upon  the  other.  Jesus,  after 
having  been  afflicted  by  the  spirit,  entering  the  resurrection 
life,  "  preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison."  He  is  still  preach- 
ing, the  influence  of  his  teachings  descending  to  the  lower 
strata  of  spirit  life.  Progress  is  the  eternal  purpose  of  God. . . . 
May  the  God  of  heaven,  the  only  true  God,  vouchsafe 
unto  the  subject  of  this  narrative,  and  every  reader  thereof, 
that  wisdom  that  cometh  from  above,  that  faith  which  works 
by  love,  that  peace  which  passeth  all  understanding,  and  that 
sanctifying  influence  of  the  spirit,  that  shall  keep  us  steadfast 
and  unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord. 
Amen. 

A  Swedenhorgian  Spirit  in  the   City  of  Arcadia^  through,  the 
Mediumship  of  Mrs.  F ,  of  London. 

When  I  was  tabernacled  in  the  earthly  body  I  was  called  a 
New  Church  minister,  and  was  a  devoted  follower  of  Emanuel 
Swedenborg.  I  do  not  choose  to  give  my  name,  and  in  refus- 
ing would  convey  the  lesson  that  names  are  but  tinkling  cym- 
bals.    Every  message,  whether  from  the  inhabitants  of  the 


160  IMMORTALITY. 

heavens  or  the  hells,  should  pass  for  what  it  is  spiritually  and 
intrinsically  worth,  reason  and  the  highest  judgment  in  all 
cases  being  the  arbiter. 

When  in  my  body  I  lived  in  a  populous  city,  and  now  I 
find  that  there  is  a  corresponding  city  above  it.  In  one  of 
the  most  elegant  and  refined  divisions  of  this  city  of  Arcadia 
is  my  present  home.  Four  principal  streets  cross  the  city, 
which,  viewed  from  the  higher  heavens,  lie  in  the  form  of  a 
cross.  Along  the  streets  are  magnificent  and,  I  may  say, 
sacred  trees  —  sacred  because  they  symbolize  spiritual  truths. 
The  streets  glitter  with  precious  stones.  They  are  also  sym- 
bolical. Fountains  of  living  waters  adorn  that  part  of  the 
city  in  which  I  reside,  the  houses  and  temples  being  alike 
adorned  and  refreshed  by  them.  The  rich  vegetation  around 
these  fountains  instills  into  the  waters  its  own  aromal  essences. 
Other  fountains  have  medical  properties  for  undeveloped  spir- 
its ;  and  others  emit  the  purest  life-giving  nectar.  ... 

To  distant  cities  and  localities  there  is  in  appearance  hang- 
ing over  this  favored  city  a  rainbow  arch  of  wondrous  dimen- 
sions, of  transcendent  splendor,  not  stationary,  but  waving, 
entwining  circle  within  circle,  forming,  as  it  were,  chains  and 
links  of  the  most  gorgeous  hues.  It  is  clear  to  spirit  sight 
that  this  appearance  is  formed  by  a  company  of  angelic  spir- 
its from  the  holier  spheres,  to  minister,  and,  by  their  presence 
and  the  diffusion  of  their  heavenly  atmosphere,  to  spread 
abroad  divine  knowledge  and  love  over  especially  this  central 
point  of  the  divine  society  and  the  river  of  life.  Christ  is 
the  light  of  the  whole  arcana  of  the  spirit  land.  Surely,  in 
our  "  Father's  House,"  the  measureless  universe,  are  "  many 
mansions"  —  many  spheres,  societies,  circles,  conditions. 

Chariots,  seemingly  of  fire,  descend  from  the  canopy  or 
rainbow  which  overhangs  the  city  of  Arcadia,  and  on  certain 
spiritual  holidays  they  convey  such  as  are  willing  and  pre- 
pared to  ascend  to  some  of  the  higher  spheres  of  the  Christ 
Heavens.  Elegant  vehicles,  drawn  by  horses  and  other  kinds 
of  graceful  animals,  here,  as  on  earth,  are  subservient  to  the 
spirit's  will.     There  are  beautiful  birds  here  also.     To  com- 


THE  HOMES   OF  APOSTLES   AND   DIVINES.  151 

plete  the  life  in  the  spirit  land,  with  its  varied  occupations 
and  requirements,  all  such  acquisitions  are  as  necessary  as  on 
earth,  only  always  in  a  spiritual  degree.  .  .  . 

Spiritual  bodies  do  not  suffer  physical  pain.  Neither  do  all 
the  physical  diseases  of  earth,  as  some  have  taught,  originate 
in  spirit  or  the  spiritual  world.  Malarial  diseases,  small-pox, 
yellow  fever,  and  many  other  diseases  originate  in  purely 
phj'sical  causes.  .  .  .  Social  converse  in  our  world  corresponds 
to  that  in  yours.  Sometimes  spirits  speak  audibly,  and  then 
again,  more  especially  in  the  higher  spheres,  the  thoughts  of 
one  flow  into  the  mind  of  the  other  without  speech.  .  .  . 

Men  and  women,  continuing  as  they  do  their  individ- 
uality, sex  necessarily  exists  in  the  world  of  spirits,  but  in 
heaven  there  are  no  perversions  of  these  functions.  In  the 
divine  order,  spirit  exists  prior  to  the  body.  Substance  is 
eternal,  and  spirits  become  clothed  in  more  exterior  garments 
through  the  nuptial  unions  of  angelic  counterparts.  Every 
child  in  its  origin,  therefore,  is  pure  and  sinless,  until,  by 
assuming  the  exterior  degree,  through  natural  generation, 
he  inherits  the  imperfections  of  his  parents,  which  he  has  to 
overcome  in  himself  as  he  grows  and  unfolds  toward  the 
divine  life.  Evil  spirits  are  never  the  spiritual  parents  of 
earthly  children,  because  that  which  makes  the  man  is  the 
soul-germ,  and  divine  because  inter-related  to  and  partaking 
of  God.  Animals  possess  the  two  outer  degrees  of  spiritual 
substance,  but  not  the  interior  —  not  the  divine  soul-germ 
Hence,  at  their  death,  they  do  not  retain  their  individuali- 
ties, but  pass  into  other  essences  and  forms.  The  animals 
and  birds  of  our  spheres  are  indigenous  to  and  adapted  to 
them.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  for  me  to  fully  explain  to 
you  the  divine  glories  that  pertain  to  the  Christ  Heavens. 
You  may  well  ponder  upon  what  an  ancient  apostle  said : 
"  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be." 

A  Methodist  canister's  Life  in  the  Spheres^  given  through  the 
Mediumship  of  Mrs.  Gr ,  San  Francisco^  Cal. 

When  L  left  my  weak,  exhausted  body  I  was  met  on  the 


162  IMMORTALITY. 

spirit  side  by  friends  who  welcomed  me  with  songs  of  glad- 
ness and  shouts  of  welcome.  Foremost  among  these  were  my 
old  father  and  mother,  appearing  in  the  prime  of  life,  as  I 
remembered  them  in  my  own  early  manhood.  We  were  a 
mighty  host  gathered  about  the  old,  discarded  earth  mantle, 
and  each  seemed  full  of  joy,  but  not  one  so  blissfully  content 
as  I  in  my  renewed  youth  and  friendships.  This  was  during 
the  first  glad  surprise.  Afterward  I  became  anxious,  as  the 
questions  of  God  and  His  judgment  arose  in  my  mind.  Re- 
garding that  judgment  as  final,  I  earnestly  questioned  my 
spirit  as  to  its  life  on  earth.  At  this,  my  friends,  all  seemed 
to  disappear,  and  there  stood  by  me  one  clothed  as  with 
the  light  of  the  sun,  and  I  fell  upon  my  face  filled  with  fear. 
I  thought  I  was  in  the  presence  of  the  God  whom  I  always 
feared  more  than  loved.  I,  on  earth,  had  been  a  doubter,  but 
fearing  my  doubts  were  from  the  evil  one,  I  had  resolutely 
preached  Christ,  whose  unselfish  character  I  could  understand 
and  love. 

"  My  son,"  said  my  radiant  guest,  "  I  am  but  your  guide, 
once  a  mortal  like  yourself.  I  come  to  show  you  your  earth- 
work. Arise,  and  look  upon  the  souls  you  have  blessed."  I 
obeyed,  and  beheld  a  cloud  of  witnessses  to  the  ministry  of 
more  than  half  a  century.  They  cried,  "  To  you,  father,  we 
owe  the  desire  to  do  right."  Oh,  ministers  of  good,  be  brave 
and  true,  and  your  spirit  will  be  so  intertwined  with  the 
glory  of  God  or  good  that  your  soul  will  vibrate  to  such  a 
greeting  with  a  joy  mortals  cannot  understand.  There  are 
times  of  ecstasy  on  earth,  but  no  more  to  be  compared  to  this 
rich,  ripe  harvest  of  love,  than  the  tiny  dewdrop  to  the  great 
ocean  I 

These  friends,  then,  seemed  to  fade  into  the  brightness  of  a 
band  sent  to  conduct  me  to  my  spirit  home.  By  their  supe- 
rior brightness,  I  saw  dark  spots  in  the  tide  that  ebbed  and 
flowed  about  my  own  soul.  Looking  closely,  I  was  annoyed 
by  the  sight  of  weakness  through  which  I  had  passed  on 
earth.  In  the  world  of  shifting  light  which  seemed  a  part  of 
myself,  I  read  all  my  life  ;  not  one  thought,  not  one  hope,  not 


THE  HOMES   OF   APOSTLES   AND   DIVINES.  158 

one  act  was  missing  from  the  long  earth-record.  But  as  I 
looked,  the  good  I  had  done  and  tried  to  do,  produced  such 
joy,  that  tides  of  -light  from  the  center  of  my  being  so  flooded 
my  sphere,  that  the  darkness  of  the  earth  melted  from  view. 
Blissfully  I  repeated  my  old  and  favorite  hymn : 

"No  foot  of  land  do  I  possess, 
No  cottage  in  this  wilderness." 

Then  I  seemed  caught  in  a  current  of  delight,  up-borne  by 
tender  hands,  floating,  swimming  in  bliss  until  we  entered  a 
world  of  such  exquisite  beauty  that  earth  has  no  heart  to  con- 
ceive nor  words  to  describe  its  transcendent  loveliness. 

When  I  looked  about,  and  saw  the  beautiful  fountains  send- 
mg  up  their  fragrant,  many-tinted  drops,  the  waving  of  the 
rainbow-spanned  foliage,  the  glittering  of  the  diamond-sprayed 
shrubbery,  the  sheen  of  the  silvery  stream,  I  cried,  "  Heaven 
is  a  life  of  sight."  But  then  there  came  a  burst  of  music, 
such  as  finds  no  counterpart  on  earth.  I  shivered  with  very 
ecstasy ;  my  quickened,  sphere-enshrined  life  shot  out  sparks 
of  praise,  until  in  my  soul  was  born  a  new  song  that  flowed 
in  tenderest  rhythm  to  meet  the  waves  of  celestial  music  that 
came  rolling  in,  and  I  exclaimed,  "  Heaven  is  surely  music." 

I  was  then  conducted  to  a  grand,  palatial  mansion.  How 
shall  I  describe  it?  Simply  then  it  was  like  Maximilian's 
home  at  Trieste,  only  more  adorned,  more  elaborately  orna- 
mented, and  of  such  material  that  only  the  diamond  on  earth 
can  give  an  idea  of  its  pure,  but  prismatic  beauty.  It  was 
one  scintillatiflg,  gorgeous,  efflorescent  outpouring  of  light, 
one  ceaseless  flow  of  rainbow  shimmer,  one  grand,  overpower- 
ing light,  flashing  life.  This  home  was  prepared  by  Maxi- 
milian, that  pr;:::cely  martyr  whose  desire  to  help  a  suffering 
nation  has  been  called  ambition  only  by  those  who  knew  not 
his  great  heart's  love  for  God  and  humanity. 

Here  I  found  kindred  souls,  Washington,  Lafayette,  and 
many  others  whose  names  I  had  venerated  on  earth.  I  won- 
dered why  such  should  welcome  me,  the  poor  preacher  who 
had  done  no  great  tvct  for  the  people  of   earth;    and  there 


154  IMMORTALITY. 

came  a  sweet  voice  as  from  the  ether  about  me,  "  Serving  the 
poorest  of  my  creatures  was  serving  me,  the  Creator  and 
Father  of  souls." 

What  though  I  remain  forever  too  gross  to  see  that  fountain 
of  life ;  what  though  some  say,  "  There  is  no  God,"  while  the 
upspringing  drops  of  love  water  the  divine  germ,  expanding, 
growing  in  my  own  soul,  I  know  there  is  a  conscious,  tender 
All-father,  who  willingly  bears  with  his  poorest  creatures, 
while  they  struggle  in  vales  of  darkness  and  doubt. 

"  No  work  is  done  in  our  world  without  considering  the 
time  of  fruition,"  said  Maximilian,  who,  taking  my  arm,  led 
me  to  a  beautiful  alcove  at  the  right  of  the  grand  entrance, 
and  with  a  bow  motioned  me  to  enter.  I  obeyed,  and  found 
my  loved  ones  waiting  with  beaming  eyes,  to  show  me  our 
home  —  a  home  prepared  for  us  by  one  of  whom  we  never 
dreamed  in  our  earth-life,  but  whose  soul  claimed  ours  as  kin. 
And  I  thought  Heaven  is  in  these  sweet  surprises,  and  the 
meeting  of  family  ties  in  a  beautiful  spirit-home. 

After  a  time  I  was  led  to  a  large  assembly  hall,  where  I 
found  an  earnest  discussion  on  the  best  way  of  averting  war 
which  hung  like  a  dark  cloud  over  all  the  world.  I,  as  one 
who  had  mingled  largely  with  the  mass  of  the  people,  who  so 
lately  had  left  earth,  was  consulted,  and  tried  to  respond. 
But  so  many  were  there  whom  I  was  accustomed  to  regard 
only  with  reverence,  that  I  was  like  an  awkward  youth  before 
the  tutor  whose  knowledge  is  a  mystery,  yet  provokes  delight 
and  admiration.  Little  by  little,  however,  I  forgot  personal- 
ities in  the  beautiful  ideas  presented,  and  I  was  enraptured 
by  the  purity,  the  love,  the  unselfishness  of  each,  until  my 
soul  decided,  and  still  feels,  that  heaven  is  communion  with 
worthy  and  kindred  hearts.  So  far  I  have  dwelt  more  upon 
the  emotional  than  objective  experience  of  my  change. 

Even  now  I  have  no  right  to  paint  any  but  my  own  part  of 
Maximilian's  home. 

To  the  right  of  the  grand  entrance-hall  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  a  beautiful  alcove,  is  the  room  where  we  meet 
for  social  pleasure.     It  is  lofty  and  in  the  form  of  a  parallel©- 


THE  HOMES   OF   APOSTLES   AND   DIVINES.  155 

gram.  On  one  side  is  a  raised  dais,  forming  an  automatio 
orchestra,  so  arranged  that  if  we  choose,  in  conversation,  we 
caii  command  sweet,  soft  tones  as  a  charming  accompaniment. 
Around  this  room  are  statues  interspersed  with  fountains, 
flowers,  and  beautiful  artistic  forms,  shaped  with  such  exqui- 
site imitation  that  only  fragrance  and  life  point  the  difference 
between  the  work  of  nature  and  the  work  of  art.  Paintings 
of  wondrous  color  and  life-like  perspective,  works  from  the 
greatest  masters  of  art,  in  a  manner  unknown  to  earth. 
There  are  sofas  and  chairs  of  charming  forms  and  luxurious 
softness ;  tables  of  elegant  patterns  covered  by  books  that  wUl 
both  instruct  and  delight. 

From  this  room  there  is  a  hall  that  leads  to  our  different 
retreats.  I  have  fashioned  mine  after  the  home  aspect  of  my 
old  loved  study.  The  old  bookcase  preserves  the  same  face, 
but  its  shelves  are  filled  with  better  books  than  those  that 
adorned  my  earthly  library. 

This  homely  room  refreshes  my  soul,  after  the  dazzling 
magnificence  of  our  social  hall ;  and  here  I  can  read  the  loved 
ones  still  on  earth,  as,  the  battery  of  love  once  established,  we 
need  not  encounter  the  dark  or  disagreeable  earth-atmosphere 
unless  we  desire  to  personally  visit  the  material  plane. 

Above  the  social  hall  is  a  large  room  for  literary  purposes, 
in  which  is  an  extensive  and  carefully  selected  library,  with 
all  our  improved  means  of  communicating  and  registering 
ideas.  We  here  employ  the  batteries  of  thought  which  con- 
nect with  kindred  thoughts  in  other  homes.  Thus,  indepen 
dently  born,  truth  is  more  clearly  demonstrated  as  coming 
from  the  Celestial  world,  from  which  outflow  ideas  that  we 
send  to  earth  as  its  people  are  capable  of  receiving,  digesting, 
and  acting  upon  them.  .  .  . 

We  are  not  able  to  express  the  manner  by  which  we  com- 
municate through  our  batteries,  as  you  have  nothing  analo- 
gous on  earth,  unless  you  can  imagine  mind  as  the  battery, 
and  sympathy  as  the  connecting  wire. 

Each  spirit  is  conscious  of  an  aroma,  or  world  emanating 
from  itself.     The  aural  brightness  of  the  higher  hides  the 


166  EOIORTALITY. 

state  of  soul,  the  darkness  of  the  lower  reveals  each  secret 
act  to  those  above,  while  the  spheres  of  those  on  the  same 
plane  so  blend  that  each  may  reserve  or  reveal  his  soul  at  hia 
own  pleasure. 

Those  we  meet.  —  Fannie  A.  Conanfs  Entrance  into  Spirit  Life^ 
as  embodied  in  a  recent  Communication^  through  a  most  Re- 
liable  Medium^  to  Luther  Colby ^  the  Veteran  Editor  of  the 
Banner  of  Light. 
Addressing  Mr.  Colby,  she  said : 

"  You  frequently  ask  me  to  give  you  an  account  of  whom 
I  met  when  I  entered  spirit-life.  Let  me  here  try  to  tell  you. 
As  my  senses  closed  to  material  sights  and  sounds,  a  deep 
feeling  of  rest,  of  infinite  calm  after  storm,  came  over  me. 
It  seemed  as  though  all  space  was  my  home,  that  I  was  no 
longer  cramped  and  limited  by  conditions,  but  that  I  could 
claim  the  universe  as  my  resting-place.  But  this  feeling  soon 
disappeared.  I  am  a  being  dependent  upon  the  love,  sym- 
pathy, and  association  of  congenial  spirits,  for  happiness ; 
therefore  —  unlike  Mr.  Thompson  —  I  could  not  be  happj- 
without  a  tangible  home  and  endearing  associates. 

"As  I  began  to  realize  my  conditions  and  surroundings,  I 
perceived  close  to  me,  and  bearing  me  up,  so  to  speak,  a  band 
of  my  dear  and  trusted  Indian  guides,  foremost  among  whom 
I  discovered  the  old  chief  Omwah,  who  was  imparting  mag- 
netic vitality  to  me  by  making  passes  all  around  my  head.  I 
also  recognized  Sagoyewatha,  Black  Hawk,  Winona,  Spring- 
flower,  Woonie,  Minnie,  Vashti,  and  others  whom  I  had  seen 
clairvoyantly  many  times  before.  I  cannot  express  to  you  the 
delight  I  experienced  when  I  realized  that  they  were  indeed  my 
old  friends  come  to  meet  me,  and  to  assure  me  beyond  the 
shadow  of  doubt  that  they  were  the  real,  personal  identities  they 
had  so  often  purported  to  be  through  my  organism.  At  that 
time  my  old  tormenting  skepticism  left  me,  and  I  was  as  happy 
as  a  child.  As  though  I  had  been  but  a  feather's  weight,  Om- 
wah bore  me  in  his  arms  far  away  into  a  deeply  wooded, 
though  mountainous  region,  to  the  Indians'  happy  hunting- 


THE  HOMES   OF  APOSTLES   AND  DIVLNES.  157 

grounds,  where  a  beautiful  lodge,  draped  with  silken  hang- 
ings, and  ornamented  with  beautifully  colored  plumes  and 
fragrant  flowers,  had  been  prepared  for  me  by  my  dusky 
friends.  Over  the  door  the  word  '  Tulula '  *  shone  out  in  bril- 
liant letters,  clustered  in  the  form  of  a  shining  star.  This 
had  been  arranged,  I  understand,  by  electric  lights.  Here  I 
remained  some  time,  constantly  gaining  strength,  magnetism, 
and  rest  from  my  surroundings  and  friends. 

"  But  a  time  came  when  I  felt  myself  drawn  in  a  different 
direction  ;  and  setting  out  with  Woonie,  who  seemed  to  will 
where  we  should  go,  and  to  bear  me  along  by  the  force  of  her 
will,  I  soon  came  to  a  beautiful,  shining  city  —  Spring  Garden 
City  —  more  beautiful  than  I  could  have  realized  in  my 
glimpses  of  it  in  clairvoyant  vision  or  trance  while  on  earth. f 

"  Here  I  was  met  by  my  mother,  darling  mother,  who  was 
as  familiar  to  me  as  the  day  she  left  me  to  join  the  angels, 
only  more  shining,  bright,  and  beautiful.  Folding  me  in  her 
close  embrace,  she  said :  '  Darling  Fannie,  you  DO  bring  me 
a  clear  record,  for  in  spite  of  doubt,  fear,  and  perplexity,  I 
thank  God  that  you  have  always  obeyed  the  angels.' 

"  With  my  mother  came  my  sister  —  she  who  died  in  early 
childhood,  now  a  beautiful  woman  in  the  spirit-world.  The 
welcome  they  gave  me  was  very  sweet,  and  in  their  shining 
home  I  again  rested. 

"  At  this  place  —  Spring  Garden  City  —  I  met  a  large  com- 
pany of  familiar  spirits :  Mr.  Parker,  William  White,  Mar- 
garet Fuller,  Lady  Stanhope,  Mr.  Pierpont,  and  a  great  many 
more  than  I  can  name  here.  They  gave  me  a  reception  out 
in  the  beautiful  grove  adjoining  Theodore  Parker's  then  resi- 
dence. It  was  a  grand  ovation  ;  music  and  singing  —  divine 
harmony  of  sound  that  seemed  to  bear  me  away  on  its  celes- 
tial wings ;   masterly  addresses   upon   my  life-work  and  en- 

*  This  was  the  name  given  to  Mrs.  Conant,  while  yet  on  earth,  by  her  Indian  spiiit 
friends,  and  signified  "  Something  to  look  through." 

t  Often,  in  her  independent  claiiToyant  visions,  Mrs.  Conant  described  to  ourself  and 
others  of  her  iriends  present  at  her  earthly  home,  a  beautiful  city  of  the  spirit-country 
which  she  was  permitted  to  visit,  and  to  which  she  said  the  name  of  Spring  Garden 
was  given. 


158  IMMORTALITY. 

trance  to  spiritual  life  ;  kindly  words  and  loving  hand-clasps. 
I  was  indeed  hapj))'-  and  at  rest.  But  to  me  the  dearest  and 
sweetest  welcome  I  received  came  from  a  large  number  of 
spirits  who  approached  me — some  with  flowers  and  green 
palms  —  all  with  smiles  or  happy  tears  ;  a  shining  throng  who 
strewed  my  way  with  flowers,  and  blessed  me  as  their  'be- 
loved teacher.'  These  were  spirits  who  through  my  earthly 
organism  first  found  light,  strength,  and  encouragement  to 
throw  off  earthly  conditions,  and  endeavor  to  become  better 

and  to  rise  higher 

"  I  love  and  bless  you  for  the  work  you  have  done  and  are 
doing  for  humanity  ;  and  countless  hosts  in  spirit-life  also 
love  and  bless  you." 

"  Sweet  soula  around  us,  watch  as  still, 
Press  neai-er  to  our  side ; 
Into  our  thoughts,  into  our  prayers, 
With  gentle  helpings  glide. 

Let  death  between  us  be  as  naught, 

A  dried  and  vanished  stream ; 
Toar  joy  he  the  reality, 

Oar  saffehsg  life  the  dreftm." 

H.  B.  SfOWB. 


THE  FBOENDS   AND    8HAKEB3  IN  SPIBIT   UFB.  159 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  FEIEND8  AND   SHAKERS   IN   SPIRIT  LIFE. 

Statements  hy  the  Quaker  Spirit,  Guide  of  E.    W.  Wallis,  of 
England. 

Q.    Passing  into  spirit  life,  did  you  lose  your  conscious- 
? 


A.  I  was  an  invalid  for  the  space  of  five  years,  and  during 
the  latter  portion  of  that  time  my  thoughts  were  engaged 
continually  upon  the  question  of  a  future  state.  Many  doubts 
and  fears  assailed  me.  At  last  my  eyes  were  opened,  and  I 
was  permitted  to  behold  the  presence  of  spirits.  My  own 
parents  were  presented  to  my  open  vision.  They  told  me 
that  as  they  lived  I  should  live  also.  At  last,  one  day,  I  was 
struck  by  the  sound  of  sweet  music  —  music  which  was  not 
of  the  earth  —  and  there  was  revealed  to  my  sight  a  band  of 
spirits.  These  were  my  parents  and  brother  who  had  pre- 
ceded me  into  spirit  life,  saying  they  had  come  to  take  me 
with  them.  I  was  not  aware  of  any  sudden  change.  I  did 
not  feel  any  painful  symptoms,  any  sudden  paroxysm,  but  it 
appeared  as  though  my  physical  body  had  fallen  asleep.  My 
parents  expressed  to  me  their  joy  that  I  was  with  them,  and 
we  began  to  move  away  —  seemingly  we  sailed  through  the 
atmosphere. 

Q.  Some  clairvoyants  have  taught  that  the  spirit  after 
leaving  moves  northward,  upon  a  magnetic  current.  Was 
this  your  experience  ? 

A.  I  did  not  especially  note  this  at  the  time,  and  I  have  no 
Knowledge  of  any  such  law  governing  spirits. 

Q,   Were  the  objects  you  met  with  tangible  to  the  touch  ? 


160  DIMORTAUl'Y. 

A.  They  were  as  equally  real  and  palpable  as  were  the 
objects  I  had  left  in  the  natural  world.  And  very  soon  after 
my  new  birth,  I  was  conducted  by  my  friends  to  a  home  that 
they  had  prepared  for  me.  .  .  .  After  m}'  father  had  taken 
charge  of  me,  I  accompanied  him  into  a  garden,  where  we 
walked,  and  conversed  of  the  beautiful  change,  death.  Cross- 
ing a  lawn  into  what  seemed  an  orchard,  I  saw  a  graceful 
vine,  so  twined  as  to  form  a  beautiful  arbor  in  which  were 
people  conversing.  As  we  approached,  they  arose  and  greeted 
us.  They  were  relations  and  friends  that  I  had  known  on 
earth.  Some  of  them  thanked  me  for  kind  words  I  had 
spoken  to  them ;  others  assured  me  I  had  been  the  means, 
under  God,  of  their  salvation.  In  the  distance  I  observed  a 
high  mountain,  near  the  base  of  which  were  broad  fields, 
dotted  with  trees  and  flecked  with  flowers.  Almost  upon  the 
summit  of  this  mountain  was  what  my  father  termed  a  grand 
assembly  house,  wliere  were  held  sessions  and  convocations  of 
wise  spirits.  Here  I  saw  an  elderly  man  standing  by  himself. 
He  was  tall,  had  a  long  beard,  flowing  hair,  keen  penetrating 
eyes,  and  rather  massive  features.  I  felt  awed  somewhat,  as 
a  child  would  when  looking  for  the  first  time  upon  a  mon- 
arch. He  said,  his  face  beaming  with  smiles,  "  Come  hither, 
child,"  and  approaching  him,  he  put  his  arms  around  my 
neck,  and  saluted  me  with  a  kiss.  My  whole  being  was 
thrilled  with  love  and  reverence.  I  learned  that  he  occasion- 
ally visited  this  department  of  the  spirit  world  in  the  capacity 
of  a  teacher.  On  earth  he  was  known  as  St.  Peter.  .  .  . 
Feeling  a  strange  sensation,  I  inquired  of  my  father  the 
cause.  He  said :  "  It  is  your  friends  on  earth  mourning  their 
loss."  This  seemed  strange  to  me,  inasmuch  as  I  was  over- 
joyed with  my  new  condition,  and  I  involuntarily  said:  "  Can 
I  do  nothing  to  inform  them  of  my  happiness ;  they  should 
know  that  I  am  not  dead  but  living !  "  Obtaining  permission, 
I  started  with  four  others  for  the  home  of  sorrowing  friends. 
Approaching  them,  the  atmosphere  seemed  to  grow  dark  and 
dense,  and  here  for  the  first  time  I  observed  that  each  spirit 
emitted  a  light  more  or  less  intense.     And  now  I  was  agaio 


THH  PBIENDS   AND  SHAKERS   IN  SPIRIT   LIFE.  161 

on  the  earth-plane,  and  in  the  very  room  where  I  had  left  my 
physical  body.  Earthly  things  that  I  had  known  and  handled 
seemed  to  me  vapory  and  shadowy,  and  I  was  greatly  con- 
fused. ...  I  saw  my  body  lowered  into  the  grave  —  saw  the 
flowers  they  cast  upon  the  dust  —  heard  the  tribute  paid  to 
my  poor  labors  by  one  of  the  group,  and  listened  to  the  song 
that  was  sung  around  the  grave.  The  sympathies  of  those 
present  quite  overcame  me,  and  I  was  not  only  excited,  but  I 
sympathized  deeply,  and  suffered  in  their  sufferings.  Becom- 
ing calm,  I  pondered  over  my  past  life,  and  my  whole  earthly 
career  passed  like  a  panorama  before  me,  inspiring  meekness 
and  humility,  for  I  saw  how  much  I  should  have  done  I  left 
undone. 

Q.  What  was  your  profession  on  earth  ?  How  long  have 
you  been  in  the  spirit  world  ?  And  upon  what  did  you  sub- 
sist when  entering  there? 

A.  I  was  called  while  in  my  body  a  Quaker  preacher,  and 
was  a  follower  of  George  Fox.  I  have  been  in  spirit  life 
nearly  two  centuries.  I  remember  of  partaking  of  the  fruit 
that  I  saw  in  the  orchard  ;  and  I  have  often  drank  at  crystal 
fountains,  although  the  very  air  we  breathe  seems  to  be  life 
itself.  There  are  many  things  in  this  higher  state  of  existence 
difficult  to  explain  to  you,  because  there  is  little  analogous 
thereto  on  your  earth.  ...  St.  Peter  and  other  historical  per- 
sonages, regarded  with  so  much  veneration,  are  ever  working 
for  the  good  of  souls  on  earth  and  in  the  heavens.  If  I 
could  take  you  in  spirit  away  from  this  room,  and  transport 
you  to  my  home  in  spirit  life,  and  from  there  to  the  great 
Assembly  Hall,  you  would  see  a  vast  concourse  of  spirits; 
and  upon  a  raised  platform  some  apparently  set  apart  from 
the  general  assembly.  These  are  visitors  from  another  and 
higher  department  in  the  heavens.  On  one  of  these  great 
occasions,  when  an  innumerable  host  of  spirits  were  present, 
we  were  honored  with  the  presence  of  the  Apostle  John. 

Q.  How  do  spirits  occupy  their  time,  and  what  are  the 
leading  loves  of  those  in  your  sphere? 

A.  Our  sphere  is  to  a  considerable  extent  a  reproduction 
11 


162  IMMORTALITY. 

of  yours,  only  everything  is  far  more  ethereal  and  more  spirit- 
ually beautiful.  A  while  since  my  father  invited  me  into  an 
imposing  building,  the  ceiling  and  sides  of  which  were  cov- 
ered with  pictures,  and  they  seemed  to  have  upon  me  a  pe- 
culiar influence.  Attracted  closer  to  them,  I  saw  that  they 
were  the  transcripts  of  familiar  scenes.  Upon  inquiry  I 
learned  that  they  had  been  painted  by  my  brother,  who 
passed  to  spirit  life  before  me.  On  one  of  these  landscape 
pictures  was  an  oak-tree  under  whose  sheltering  branches  I 
used  to  stand  and  preach  to  the  people  what  I  considered  the 
truth.  And  the  artist  had  made  a  ray  of  light  to  descend 
upon  me  from  an  inspiring  angel  band,  revealing  to  me  the 
fact  that  I  was  frequently  inspired  in  my  public  utterances.  .  .  . 
Many  of  my  earthly  experiences  have  nearly  faded  from  my 
memory.  I  was  not  joined  in  wedlock  with  the  object  of  my 
choice.  The  parents  objected  because  I  was  a  believer  in  the 
despised  George  Fox,  and  an  itinerant  preacher  listening  to 
the  voice  of  the  spirit  within.  The  sympatljies  of  this  ladj/ 
were  so  strongly  centered  in  me  that  she  faded  away  like  an 
early  flower,  and  passing  to  spirit  life  became  one  of  my 
spirit  guides.  We  are  now  linked  together  by  the  law  of 
divine  sympathy,  our  souls  responding  each  to  the  other. 
How  long  this  state  may  last  T  cannot  tell.  I  am  only  certain 
of  this :  that  our  love  is  not  selfish,  and  that  our  united  efforts 
are  to  make  others  better  and  happier.  .  .  . 

I  dislike  to  dogmatize  upon  subjects  above  my  comprehen- 
sion. But  it  seems  to  me  that  sex  does  not  pertain  to  soul, 
the  inmust  of  man,  but  to  the  physical  and  spiritual  bodies- 
There  is  nothing  in  the  higher  spheres  that  corresponds  to 
the  lusts  of  the  flesh.  What  may  transpire  in  the  lowest 
spheres  of  spirit  life  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  state,  only  so 
far  as  to  say  that  the  more  earthly,  the  more  intense  the  de- 
sire for  selfish  gratification.  .  .  . 

I  have  found  certain  thinkers  in  spirit  life  who  hold  the  idea 
that  no  spirit  world  existed  until  this  material  world  was  suffi- 
ciently advanced  to  evolve  the  sublimated  elements  that  pass 
ofif  and  outward  to  constitute  the  spiritual  zones.     Another 


THE  FEIENDS   AND  SHAKEES  IN   8PIBIT   LIFE.  163 

school  of  thinkers  assert  that  the  spiritual  world  preceded  the 
material  world,  and  that  this  spiritual  realm  is  positive,  tangi- 
ble, and  permanent,  whilst  the  physical  realm  of  being  is  the 
representation  of  the  preceding  spiritual  existence.  To  this 
latter  school  of  thinkers  I  belong.  I  do  not  know  of  any  set 
number_of  spheres.  They  are  both  conditions  and  localities. 
While  several  spirit  zones  girdle  the  earth,  the  one  extending 
outward  beyond  the  other,  there  are  almost  as  many  mental 
spheres  as  there  are  individual  spirits.  Considered  in  a  more 
general  sense,  there  are  families,  groups,  societies,  and  vast 
assemblies  —  these  often  occupy  distinct  localities,  varying  in 
distances  from  the  surface  of  your  earth.  The  children  of 
men  should  learn  that  the  only  valuable  possessions  they  can 
take  to  the  spirit  world  are  thoughts,  ideas,  and  principles  — 
deeds  of  love  and  charity  and  good-will  to  all  humanity.  .  .  . 
Everything  which  exists,  having  the  attributes  of  form, 
force,  and  substance,  is  but  the  externalization  of  a  prior  idea, 
as  the  steam-engine  is  an  image  of  the  idea  that  gave  it  birth. 
Something  as  drops  pre-exist  in  the  ocean  before  being  indi- 
vidualized, so  do  souls  pre-exist.  The  origin  of  the  individual, 
therefore,  is  not  coincident  with  the  parental  relation.  Ac- 
cording to  this  philosophy  —  and  it  appears  to  me  the  moat 
reasonable  —  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  the  beginning  of 
an  immortal  soul.  And  having  had  no  beginning,  it  can 
necessarily  have  no  ending,  and  hence  immortality  crowns 
the  destiny  of  universal  humanity. 

The    Gifts   and    Clairvoyant   Sight  of  Elmira   P.   AUard,   a 
Shaker  Sister,  Enfield,  N.  R. 

From  my  youth  up  to  this  present  time  I  have  had  the 
most  unmistakable  evidences  of  spirit  communion.  In  the 
year  1838  believers  in  our  society  experienced  a  revival  in 
which  those  who  were  in  any  degree  mediumistic  were  used 
as  mediums,  myself  among  the  number.  At  first,  however,  I 
did  not  behold  spirit  forms,  but  seeking  anxiously  through 
prayer  and  supplication  for  clear  spirit-sight,  it  pleased  God 
and  His  holy  angels  to  open  my  vision,  since  which  time  J 


164  IMMORTALITY. 

have  often  walked  and  talked  with  the  angels  of  God  —  yea, 
I  have  heard  them  converse,  and  seen  them  engage  in  sacred 
dances  and  marching.  From  departed  spirits  I  have  learned 
songs  almost  without  number.  Spirit  life  is  as  natural  to  the 
spirit  eye  as  is  the  earthly  life  to  the  physical  eye.  When  I 
am  in  the  superior  spiritual  state  things  are  far  more  substan- 
tial to  me  than  are  the  things  of  the  external  life.  Sjjirits 
that  have  just  left  their  bodies  appear  clothed  much  as  they 
were  in  their  mortal  form,  while  ancient  and  holier  spirits  are 
clad  in  celestial  attire,  shining  as  the  sun.  I  have  been  taken 
by  guardian  angels  to  distant  lands  and  cities,  and  shown 
their  regal  splendors,  together  with  the  sins  and  abominations 
practiced  by  their  inhabitants;  and  also  beheld  the  judgments 
of  God  poured  out  upon  them.  The  causes  of  many  calami- 
ties or  judgments  upon  earth  are  spiritual,  angels  of  justice 
proving  themselves  swift  witnesses.  The  angel  of  judgment 
has  shown  me  many  things  that  I  hardly  dare  mention  — 
things  that  will  come  to  pass  upon  this  nation  for  its  political 
wickedness,  manifested  toward  the  Indians  and  other  inferior 
people.  Many  times  have  I  seen  a  holy  city  located  just  over 
our  temporal  buildings  —  a  sort  of  summer  land,  adorned 
with  glory  and  magnificence,  the  habitation  of  saints  and 
angels,  and  to  me  as  real  as  any  natural  city.  In  the  imme- 
diate distance  were  mountains,  rivers,  valleys,  beautiful  gar- 
dens, vineyards  laden  with  purpling  fruitage,  flowers  of  deli- 
cious fragrance,  and  enchanting  hills,  upon  the  sides  of  which 
were  singing  birds  and  harmless  animals. 

In  this  spirit  land  I  have  seen  kings  and  nobles,  priests  and 
prophets.  The  former  having  become  humbled  had  lain  aside 
their  kingly  pretensions.  Near  where  I  saw  these  characters 
they  have  one  building  called  the  "  Congress  House  of  Jus- 
tice." Here  was  Washington,  Adams,  Lafayette,  departed 
prophets,  and  many  of  the  noblest  of  the  great  men  of  thtj 
last  century.  They  were  conversing  upon  subjects  relating 
to  political  economy,  as  well  as  receiving  instructions  from 
higher  unselfish  intelligences,  to  be  applied  to  earthly  govern- 
ments.    The  spirit  wo^-M  is  a  couLterpart  of  this,  only  in  the 


THE   FRIENDS    AND    SHAKERS   IN   SPIRIT   LIFE.  165 

higher  mansions  of  God,  or  spheres,  as  they  are  now  called, 
everything  seems  more  ethereal  and  peaceful.  Once  I  saw 
Dr.  Franklin  in  what  might  be  called  the  telegraph  office, 
communicating  with  the  inhabitants  of  earth.  In  another 
apartment  of  this  building,  which  far  surpasses  my  power  of 
description,  were  Plutarch  and  Pliny,  who,  showing  me  an 
immense  crystal  globe  enveloped  in  glittering  stars,  and  plan- 
ets represented  by  different  colors,  said,  ''  These  are  planets 
yet  to  be  discovered." 

I  have  seen  the  careless,  the  thoughtless,  and  the  worldly 
selfish,  in  the  prison  spheres  of  darkness.  They  seemed  dor- 
mant and  half  dead,  and  I  heard  what  might  be  compared  to 
the  trump  of  God  wakening  their  sleeping  souls,  and  watch- 
ing them.  I  felt  sure  that  they  were  startled  from  their 
lethargy  to  partially,  at  least,  appreciate  their  darkened  con- 
dition ;  and  I  have  seen,  too,  higher  spirits,  moved  by  affec- 
tion, go  to  their  aid,  telling  them  of  eternal  day  and  the  City 
of  Peace.  At  length,  weary  and  heavy-laden,  they  would 
move  on,  guided  by  missionary  spirits,  to  flowing  fountains, 
where,  with  tattered  garments,  they  would  stand  under  the 
glittering  sprays,  and  would  seek  to  wash  the  stains  from 
their  soiled  vestures.  Oh,  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  live  a  selfish 
life  for  fame  —  a  life  for  that  meat  which  perisheth ! 

In  hours  of  worship  I  have  seen  hosts  of  spirits  enter  or 
stand  around  our  house  of  worship  during  service,  some  of 
which  I  was  familiar  with  in  the  earth-life.  They  appeared 
in  every  feature  and  gesture  to  my  spirit  vision,  as  though 
they  still  inhabited  mortal  bodies,  only  they  were  more  light 
and  ethereal.  I  have  seen  them  inspire  our  elders  and  elder- 
esses  when  bearing  their  testimony  against  the  lusts  of  the 
flesh  and  the  pride  of  life ;  I  have  seen  them  approach  mor- 
tals  and  speak  to  them,  and  these  mortals  echoing  would 
Bpeak  the  same  words,  hardly  knowing  why  they  did  so. 
I  once  saw  an  elder  brother,  who  had  passed  to  spirit  life 
from  one  of  the  western  states,  enter  our  house  of  public 
worship,  and  handing  an  open  spirit  Bible  to  Elder  Henry 
Cummings,  asked  him  to  read  the  tenth  chapter  of  Acts.     El- 


166  nCMORTALITT. 

der  Henry,  immediately  rising,  took  from  his  pocket  a  Testa- 
ment, and  read  the  same  chapter,  making  it  the  basis  of  his 
discourse.  It  is  surpassing  strange  to  me  that  all  are  not 
consciously  susceptible  of  spirit  influence  —  that  all  do  not 
see  them  as  I  do,  and  feel  the  gentle  touches  of  their  snow- 
white  hands. 

In  the  world  of  spirits  there  is  a  council  called  the  "  Spirit 
Council."  This  council,  conferring  together,  sent  missionaries 
in  various  vehicles  to  mortals  and  wicked  spirits,  hoping  to 
impress  them  to  turn  and  walk  in  the  ways  of  holiness.  The 
Christ  spirit  of  love  always  strives  with  men  and  with  de- 
graded spirits.  Remember  that  disorderly  spirits,  still  sym- 
pathetically connected  with' the  earth,  moving  in  your  midst 
—  vile  wicked  spirits  —  are  capable  of  doing  great  harm  to 
humanity.  They  can  commit  actual  sin  through  easy,  nega- 
tive-minded people  upon  earth.  Changing  worlds  does  not 
change  immediately  the  desires  of  the  miser,  the  thief,  or  the 
carnally-minded.  These  passions  and  tendencies  do  not  per- 
tain to  the  body  —  that  is  material,  unthinking,  and  irrespon- 
sible. It  is  the  spirit  that  thinks  and  wills  and  does  through 
the  body;  and  it  is  the  spirit,  whether  it  is  in  the  body  or 
out,  that  is  morally  responsible. 

Once  I  saw  a  large  company  of  spirits  erecting  a  capacious 
stone  building.  It  surprised  me.  I  observed  them  until  one 
story  was  accomplisli^d,  for  they  worked  very  rapidly.  After 
it  was  erected  I  stepped  into  it,  but  found  no  way  to  ascend 
to  the  lofts  above.  Looking  about  I  came  to  what  I  after- 
wards learned  was  an  elevator.  This  was  long  before  I 
learned  about  any  such  convenience  upon  earth.  I  am  cer- 
tain, from  travels  and  observations  in  the  spiritual  world, 
that  Jiearly  all  mechanical  inventions  are  first  conceived  and 
arranged  in  the  Spirit-Land.  Passing  into  one  of  the  other 
lower  rooms  in  this  building,  I  saw  a  very  extensive  table 
covered  with  plates,  goblets  filled  with  pure  water,  dishes  o^ 
cake  beautifully  frosted,  and  most  inviting  fruits  -,  and  here 
were  hundreds  of  spirits  partaking  of  the  luscious  viands. 
At  one  of  my  visits  in  the  land  of  soul  life  I  met  Elder  John 


THE   FRIENDS  AND   SHAKERS   IN  SPIRIT  LIFE.         167 

Lyon.  He  said  he  had  started  to  attend  a  conference  at  the 
Congress  House  of  Justice.  I  said,  Can  I  go  in?  He  re- 
plied :  "  A  large  collection  are  assembled  for  the  purpose  of 
helping  the  government.  We  hope  to  influence  the  people 
against  war,  and  purge  the  nation  from  politi','al  dishonesty 
and  unrighteousness." 

At  one  time,  while  traveling  in  spirit  life,  attended  by  my 
angelic  teacher,  I  met  a  company  going  on  a  pleasure  excur- 
sion, to  take  a  sail,  they  said,  on  Lake  Pleasant ;  they  invited 
me  to  join  them,  which  I  did.  This  lake  was  in  oval  form, 
and  had  upon  its  banks  waving  trees  and  overhanging  vines. 
The  sail  of  itself  was  delightful,  but  was  intensified  by  music, 
song,  and  holy  words  of  wisdom.  After  this  we  took  a  wind- 
ing road  up  a  mountain  path  to  a  lovely  park  dotted  with 
fruit-trees,  and  interlaced  with  delightful  paths,  and  the 
whole  encircled  by  a  high  wall  overhung  with  ivy  and  cluster- 
ing vines.  Here  the  party  engaged  for  a  little  time  in  reli- 
gious worship.  Near  a  magnificent  building  in  this  park  stood 
a  stately  tree,  whose  leaves  were  as  shining  as  silver  and  gold, 
and  I  was  told  they  represented  the  first  and  second  appear- 
ing of  Christ.  One  apartment  in  this  building  was  devoted 
to  the  education  of  foreign  spirits,  another  to  the  considera- 
tion of  spiritual  gifts,  and  how  to  make  them  the  most  effect- 
ual among  the  children  of  men.  Over  the  archway  leading 
from  this  room  was  the  sentence,  written  seemingly  in  golden 
letters,  "  Holiness  to  the  Lord." 

In  concluding  these  descriptions  of  spirit  life  and  heavenly 
orders,  I  must  say,  in  humility  of  spirit,  that  I  have  utterly 
failed  to  do  the  subject  justice.  The  most  gifted  tongue  of 
earth  cannot  describe  the  angel  homes  of  the  beautiful  and 
the  worthy.  The  spirit  world  is  to  me  the  real  world.  If  I 
know  that  mortals  exist,  so  do  I  know  that  our  loved  ones 
exist  in  heaven.  I  have  walked  and  talked  with  them,  and, 
like  the  apostle  of  old,  I  hardly  know  at  times  whether  I  am 
in  the  body  or  out  And  oh  how  my  soul  burns  to  teach  and 
impress  mortals  to  be  good  and  pure  and  Christ-like  —  to 


168  IMMOETALITT. 

"  overcome,"  that  they  may  inherit  and  have  access  to  the 
tree  of  life. 

Visions  and  Spiritual  Experiences  through  the  Mediumship  of 
Eunice  Bathrick,  a  Shaker  Eldrefis. 

I  am  now  in  the  sere  of  life,  and  as  my  earthly  career 
is  drawing  to  a  close,  I  rejoice  to  say  that  invisible  agencies 
have  supported  me  all  through  these  changing  years  up  to 
the  present  time.  I  have  felt  the  companionship  of  spirits, 
as  though  they  were  tangible  to  the  physical  touch ;  I  have 
seen  them  as  distinctly  as  I  see  things  with  my  natural  eyes. 
I  have  frequently  conversed  with  them  audiblj^  and  though 
I  heard  no  external  response,  the  answer,  in  some  unexplaiu- 
able  way,  was  intelligently  echoed  to  my  interior  conscious- 
ness. I  have  been  informed  of,  and  prophesied  of  events  be- 
fore their  occurrence,  and  have  been  turned  from  the  course 
I  was  pursuing,  where  clangers  awaited  me,  by  loving,  minis- 
tering spirits.  I  have  heard  angelic  voices,  have  been  patted 
upon  the  shoulder  when  in  the  room  by  myself;  have  listened 
to  heavy  footsteps,  so  heavy  as  to  seemingly  jar  the  floor,  the 
ground,  and  the  forest  through  which  I  was  walking. 

Listening  to  the  songs  of  angel  hosts,  I  have  committed 
them  to  writing.  Sitting  quietly  aloue  at  twilight,  I  have 
sung  under  the  inspiration  of  angels  one  new  song  after  an- 
other, till  they  numbered  scores ;  and  they  were  joined  in 
aim  and  purpose  like  intertwining  links  in  a  golden  chain. 
It  is  impossible  for  me  to  find  language  to  describe  the  land- 
scapes that  I  have  seen  in  vision  ;  their  verdure,  their  velvety 
lawns,  their  crystal  streams,  and  musical  birds,  almost  over- 
came me  with  a  joy  and  a  love  for  God  and  his  creatures. 
On  some  of  these  greeu  lawns  were  lofty  trees,  with  delicate 
vines,  climbing  over  and  clinging  to  the  branches,  bear- 
ing transparent  fruit  resembling  clusters  of  grapes.  Walk- 
ing on  these  lawns,  among  these  groves,  and  in  the  alcoves, 
were  children  dressed  in  white,  with  teachers  instructing 
them.  The  pure  and  beautiful  angels  seemed  to  have  no 
fixed  abode,  but  roamed  at  will  through  elysian  fields,  while 


THE  FRIENDS   AND   SHAKEES   IN   SPIRIT  LIFE.  169 

the  darker  spirits  seemed  confined  to  given  localities  :  and  the 
atmosphere  in  which  they  moved  appeared  to  me  hazy  and 
gloomy.  There  were  no  green  fields,  no  fragrant  flowers, 
and  no  dancing  fountains,  to  cheer  their  desolate  abode. 
These  were  shown  to  me  for  lessons  of  instruction.  The 
places  where  some  good  spirits  were  conducted,  after  leaving 
their  bodies,  appeared  to  me  like  the  outer  court  of  a  magni- 
ficent building,  with  architectural  beauty  surpassing  all  earthly 
workmanship.  Their  walls  were  festooned  with  vines  and 
flowers,  and  hung  with  paintings  symbolizing  sacred  scenes  in 
the  Scriptures,  and  the  lives  of  good  and  pure  men  and 
women. 

At  one  time  I  saw,  in  vision,  public  worship  held  among 
spirits.  The  building  stood  facing  the  south,  with  a  sloping, 
undulating  plain,  I  should  judge,  a  mile  in  length,  at  the 
extremity  of  which  was  a  dense  forest,  through  which  mur- 
mured a  winding  river,  with  banks  fringed  with  delicate 
mosses.  All  of  the  surroundings  tended  to  promote  contem- 
plation, and  a  prayerful  mood  of  mind.  The  extensive  and 
symmetrical  building  for  worship  was  of  pure  white,  and,  as 
far  as  I  could  see,  without  the  least  ornament.  It  was  clearly 
constructed  for  worship,  and  not  for  the  display  of  pride.  I 
did  not  enter  the  structure,  but  the  two  doors  facing  the 
south  stood  open,  as  they  had  been  left  by  the  assembled 
throng.  Before  approaching  so  near,  and  while  standing  in 
meditation,  I  saw  the  brethren  and  sisters  —  angels  they 
were  —  go  forth  in  the  march  and  the  dance.  I  saw  them 
pass  the  windows,  arranged  in  white  transparent  robes,  as 
they  moved  like  seraphs  to  the  heavenly  music.  It  seemed 
to  me  as  though  I  was  at  the  very  gates  of  the  City  Celestial, 
the  home  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  and  was  about  to  join  in  the 
song  of  the  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand.  In  that  heav- 
enly world  —  for  I  seemed  to  be  there  —  I  was  pained  when 
told  by  my  guardian  angel,  that  I  must  return  again  to  the 
material  world  ;  and  now  I  only  desire  to  stay  upon  earth,  that 
I  may  do  good  and  help  poor  mortal  souls  to  rise  into  the  res- 
urrection-life, where  alone  is  found  peace  and  true  happiness. 


170  DrfMORTAUTY. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

Spirit  Voices  from  Australia^  and  Prophecies  from  Cape  Town, 
Africa.  TJie  Spirit  Home  of  the  Martyr  Giordano  Bruno, 
through  the  Mediumship  of  Thomas  Walker. 

«*  And  when  he  had  opened  the  fifth  seal,  I  saw  under  the  altar  the  souh  of  those 
who  were  slain  for  the  word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held.  .  .  .  And 
white  robes  were  griven  unto  every  one  of  them."  John  the  Revbi^tor. 

Situated  ou  a  beautiful  hill,  Pure  Love  City  overlooks  the 
Valley  of  Wisdom  and  Pilgrimage  Plains.  Angel  Lake  is  in 
the  front  grounds.  In  the  distance  rolls  Sunshine  River,  fall- 
ing into  Angel  Lake.  Isis  Pier  stretches  out  into  the  lake, 
and  being  built  of  living  flowers,  covered  with  translucent 
down,  it  is  as  useful  as  beautiful.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
and  dividing  the  valley  of  Wisdom  into  two  portions,  a  rip- 
pling and  romantic  brook  curls  along  towards  the  lake, and  — 
pardon  our  liberties  —  since  forming  your  acquaintance,  and 
in  honor  of  your  missionary  labors  for  the  furtherance  of  spir- 
itual knowledge,  we  now  call  it  Peebles"  Brook. 

Among  the  leading  features  of  our  city  is  a  massive  muse- 
um, Music  Temple,  and  Poets'  Dome.  The  museum  occupies 
a  commanding  position  upon  the  summit  of  a  table-land  prom- 
ontory. It  is  an  ancient  structure,  having  been  built,  fur- 
nished, and  ornamented  by  the  united  efforts  of  Pythagoras, 
Socrates,  Plato,  Lautsze,  Confucius,  Jesus,  Euclid,  Democri- 
tus,  Empedicles,  Homer,  Ptolemy,  Pliny,  Heplexon — a  Greek 
reformer,  whose  works  were  destroyed  at  the  burning  of  the 
Alexandrian  Library  —  and  a  number  of  others  interested  in 
the  dissemination  of  true  science,  refined  literature,  and  reli- 
gious truth.  Its  erection  and  the  subsequent  influences  of 
those  either  dwelling  in  or  frequenting  it,  were  the  causes  of 


SPIBIT    VOICES    AND    PROPHECIES.  171 

all  the  religious  reformations  that  have  dawned  upon  the  earth 
for  the  past  few  centuries.  The  noted  seer  Swedenborg  has 
a  prominent  position  as  teacher  of  spiritual  analogy  in  one  de- 
partment of  the  building.  We  are  now  expecting  a  visit  from 
that  exalted  seer  of  Patmos,  St.  John.  Countless  throngs  will 
flock  to  see  and  hear  his  saintly  words  of  wisdom. 

I  have  charge, at  present,  of  the  "infirm  "  and  "deranged" 
department,  where  imbeciles,  the  spiritually  deformed,  and 
the  imperfectly  balanced  spirits,  rendered  so  by  the  condi- 
tions of  earth  life,  are  received,  cared  for,  and  healed.  The 
ancient  spirits  above  mentioned  seldom  visit  the  city,  because 
having  other  homes  and  far  more  exalted  duties  to  perform. 

In  this  sphere  of  existence  the  arts  and  sciences  attain  a 
very  high  perfection.  It  is  a  great  center  of  learning  and 
progress.  Here  metaphysicians  meet  to  study  the  soul,  and 
converse  of  its  infinite  capacities.  The  museum  lias  been  de- 
nominated "  Curiosity  Museum,"  because  one  of  its  founders, 
Lucretius,  in  company  with  Solon,  out  of  curiosity,  and  for  the 
benefit  of  the  patrons  of  the  museum,  traversed  the  electrical 
currents  on  the  Pacific  Ocean,  on  a  voyage  of  exploration,  to 
gather  information  respecting  the  long,  wave-covered  New 
Atlantis,  described  by  ancient  Hindoo,  Egyptian,  and  Grecian 
writers. 

My  personal  home,  known  as  "  Balmy  Cot,"  is  a  very  com- 
fortable dwelling,  at  the  foot  of  Chastity  Hill,  and  a  little  dis- 
tance from  the  shore,  where  balmy  spiritual  breezes  refresh 
the  contemplative  soul.  It  commands  a  good  view  of  the 
city,  and  stands  opposite  the  magnificent  museum.  It  is  my 
home,  because  I  personally  gravitate  to  it.  Others,  in  sym- 
pathy with  me,  gravitate  to,  and  construct  their  homes,  and 
we  "have  all  things  in  common,"  because  "we  love  the 
brethren" — and  hence  the  name,  "  Pure  Love  City."  As 
I  develop  higher  in  the  golden  future,  I  shall  leave  this  home, 
and  exchange  it  for  a  purer  and  holier  one,  left  vacant  by  the 
glorious  unfoklments  of  its  latest  occupants.  Hugh  Latimer 
will  be  my  next  successor.  He  is  now  a  devoted  student  in 
the  museum.     The  interior  of  my  home  is  attractive,  love  11- 


172  IMMORTALITY. 

lumined,  chastely  decorated,  and  seraphim-frequented.  The 
holiest  angels  and  seraphs  have  lofty  ideals,  stretching  on  into 
the  ineffable  and  the  unattainaV)le. 

Though  exerting  a  general  influence  upon  mortals,  I  sel- 
dom visit  the  earth  in  person ;  and  then  to  give  directions  to 
the  active  controls  of  this  medium,  and  to  give  counsel  in  the 
development  of  other  mediums.  At  some  future  time  I  will 
describe  to  you  the  martyr's  death,  which  I  suffered  in  Rome  ; 
and  I  feel  safe  in  promising  to  return  oftener  than  in  the  past, 
as  your  atmosphere  facilitates  a  work  that  needs  to  be  done. 

Spirit  Experiences  and  Teachings ;  through  the  Mediumship 
of  iS.  T.  3Iareha7it,  Cape  Totvn,  Sonth  Africa. 

When  an  inhabitant  of  earth  I  was  a  student  and  teacher 
of  divinity.  I  am  still  employed  in  teaching  ;  but  upon  en- 
tering the  higher  existence,  I  was  soon  compelled  to  modify 
my  theological  views.  This-  caused  me  quite  a  struggle,  for  I 
was  inclined  to  be  persistent.  In  changing  worlds  I  did  not 
completely  lose  my  consciousness.  This  is  not  the  case  with 
those  who  suffer  from  disasters.  Spirit  life  is  so  much  like 
life  upon  earth,  that  some  hardly  know  they  have  made  the 
change.  I  found  a  place,  or,  perhaps  better  expressed,  a  home 
prepared  for  me,  when  passing  into  the  new  state  of  existence. 
My  garments  were  also  prepared,  and  they  conesponded  with 
my  taste,  and,  laftei-wards  learned,  with  my  moral  status.  .  .  . 
Yes,  I  have  frequently  seen  spirits  whose  habitations  were 
upon  other  planets  ;  they  are  sometimes  sent  to  your  earth  as 
messengers.  1  remember  of  recently  seeing  a  messenger  spirit 
from  the  planet  Jupiter.  He  was  enveloped  in  a  mist,  like  a 
cloud  of  gold,  and  moved,  so  it  seemed  to  me,  with  the  swift- 
ness of  lightning —  the  long,  flowing  hair  floating  behind  him. 
This  aromal,  gauze-like  cloud  completely  encircled  him,  re- 
vealing a  being  of  radiant  loveliness.  My  spirit  teacher  said 
that  he  was  the  "  Angel  of  Beneficence." 

The  higher  intelligences  of  other  planets  have  always  ex- 
ercised more  or  less  influence  upon  your  earth.  The  plan- 
ets themselves  are  more  potent  in   their  effects  upon   your 


SPIEIT   VOICES   AND   PROPHECIES.  173 

world  than  mortals  generally  imagine.  When  astronomy  an'^ 
judicial  astrology  are  better  comprehended,  the  mysteries  of 
life,  birth,  health,  and  intellectual  development  will  be  far 
better  understood.  This  medium  is  now  under  the  influence 
of  Saturn  —  seventh  house  ;  but  will  shortly  come  under  the 
peculiar  influences  of  Pallas  —  the  first  house.  The  conjunc- 
tion of  certain  planets  has  much  to  do  with  the  matter  and 
also  the  minds  upon  3'our  earth.  The  medium,  however,  has 
no  faith  in  these  astrological  teachings,  lience  it  is  difficult  for 
us  to  fully  project  our  ideas  into  and  through   his  organism. 

As  to  the  existence  of  birds,  animals,  and  noisome 

insects,  T  feel  it  difficult  to  express  realities  upon  this  sub- 
ject as  1  find  them.  I  have  never  seen  stinging  insects 
and  loathsome  serpents  in  our  state  of  existence.  I  think 
they  subserved  their  uses  in  the  material  world  that  you  now 
inhabit.  Of  course  there  is  no  annihilation  ;  the  universe 
knows  no  absolute  loss.  Accordingly,  the  animals  and  in- 
sects of  your  plane,  having  no  aspirations  for  immortality,  die ; 
the  grosser  portion  of  them  going  to  enrich  the  soil,  while  the 
spiritual  part  enters  into  and  is  absorbed  in  the  great  vortex 
of  spirit  essences.  And  yet  we  have  often  seen  subjective 
appearances  of  animal  and  bird  life  attendant  upon  immortal 
spirits.  Nevertheless,  those  who  have  dwelt  much  longer, 
and  occupy  higher  positions  in  spirit  life,  teach  that  all  types 
and  germs  are  immortal ;  and  from  them  I  gather  that  the 
graceful  animals  that  tread,  and  the  beautiful  plumaged  birds 
that  make  music  in  the  evergreen  groves,  are  indigenous  to, 
and  the  outbirths  of,  the  higher  spheres  in  which  they  ap- 
pear. .  .  . 

Q.  What  is  to  be  the  future  of  Africa  in  the  world's  history  ? 

A.  This  is  a  momentous  subject,  demanding  careful  con- 
Bideration.  The  history  of  this  country,  with  her  Lost  Arts, 
was  long  siuce  buried  in  forgetfulness.  In  remote  antiquity, 
hidden  under  the  dust  of  ages.  Central  Africa  was  the  garden 
of  the  world.  The  Sanscrit  language,  the  pride  of  ancient 
Iidia,  was  begotten  and  saw  its  palmiest  days  near  the  foun- 
tains of  the  Nile.     Why,  then,  has  the  lion  so  long  borne  the 


174  IMMORTALITY. 

curse  of  degradation  ?  Why  should  the  dark  stain  remain 
upon  one  of  the  fairest  portions  of  God's  universe?  Why 
such  a  long  night  after  such  a  glorious  noonday  ?  After  the 
night  Cometh  the  morning.  Ethiopia  shall  yet  again  stretch 
forth  her  hands  to  God.  The  baptism  of  fire  is  now  upon 
her.  After  the  clangor  of  wars  and  warfare  comes  peace  and 
prosperity.  .  .  .  Ancient  America  was  the  Alpha  of  earth's 
humanity,  Asia  the  Beta,  while  to  Europe  has  been  allotted 
the  fiery  work  of  scourging  and  purification.  But,  in  the 
dawning  cycle,  to  Africa  shall  be  given  the  full  unfolding  of 
that  flower  whose  grateful  fragrance  shall  fill  the  whole  earth, 
and  whose  mellifluou^  melodies  shall  add  to  the  harmonies. 

The  Spirit  Home  and  Surroundings  of  Edgar  Athcling,  as  seen 
clairvoyantly  hy  Alfred  Deakin  of  Australia. 
Situated  in  the  midst  of  a  very  beautiful  country,  his  resi- 
dence gleams  brightly  in  the  distance  from  out  a  dark  setting 
of  green  forest  and  purple  sea.  The  character  of  the  space 
seen  is  hilly,  rising  to  a  ridge  of  mountain  peaks,  whose  lofti- 
ness was  apparently  snow-capped,  rocky,  and  above  the  vege- 
tation thickly  covering  its  flanks.  The  direction  was  north- 
ward, and  the  chain  of  pointed  and  jagged  elevations  was 
then  lying  to  the  southeast.  As  far  as  my  vision  extended 
the  surface  of  the  land  was  diversified  by  trees  and  magnifi- 
cent foliage,  the  undulations  often  abrupt,  and  sometimes  pre- 
cipitous. The  atmosphere  was  of  a  brilliant  lucidity  and  soft- 
ness, the  coloring  of  the  sward  and  copses  standing  out  in 
fine  relief;  the  sky  of  an  inexpressible  tenderness  overarch- 
ing it  with  a  wealth  of  sunny  blue.  The  contour  of  the 
whole  was  magnificently  wild  and  grand.  A  rugged  coast, 
and  cliffs  washed  by  the  sea  in  almost  living  ecstasy  of  mo- 
tion, bounding  it  to  the  east  and  north ;  while  toward  the 
west  I  had  the  sensation  of  life,  and  in  that  direction  seemed 
to  sense  the  presence,  and  abiding  places  in  cities,  of  sj)irits 
upon  the  same  plane.  The  scene  was  of  immense  extent, 
probably  some  sixty  square  miles,  lying  around  the  building, 
which  was  evidently  one  of   great  splendor,  approached  by 


SPIRIT   VOICES   AND   PE0PHECIE8.  175 

exquisite  gardens  on  two  sides,  and  with  the  sea  close  to 
it  on  a  third.  It  was  in  shape  like  a  gigantic  magnet,  or 
horseshoe,  of  one  very  lofty  story. 

The  material  of  which  it  was  composed  seemed  of  varie- 
gated or  changeful  color,  in  many  places  milk-white,  and  in 
others  of  golden  hue.  Mother-of-pearl  i^  the  only  substance 
I  can  liken  it  to,  and  I  fancy  from  the  proximity  of  the  ocean 
that  this  might  be  obtained  from  thence. 

The  architecture  was  strange  but  very  imposing,  and  as  if 
music  in  some  inexplicable  way  was  wrought  into  the  fajades 
and  woven  over  its  porticoes.  Domes,  towers,  and  minarets, 
were  among  its  decorations,  which  like  the  vegetation  par- 
took of  an  Oriental  tinge.  The  interior  consisted  of  halls, 
corridors,  and  smaller  apartments;  but  there  were  some  of 
these  squared,  in  every  case  the  angles  being  rounded  off  or 
concealed.  I  felt  an  atmosphere,  as  it  were,  of  education  and 
refinement  proceeding  from  it,  and  grew  dimly  conscious  of  a 
great  number  of  dwellers  therein,  busied  in  intellectual  em- 
ploj'ments,  and  the  cultivation  of  spiritual  gifts.  Different 
portions  of  the  edifice  were  set  apart  for  different  branches  of 
study.  In  one  portion  I  perceived  an  immense  library.  The 
forms  of  the  volumes  were  almost  exactly  like  those  we  are 
familiar  with,  while  others,  which  I  perceived,  differed  only 
in  minor  particulars.  Some  of  them  evidently  were  of  very 
ancient  origin.  The  contents  I  could  only  analyze  by  the 
influence  proceeding  from  them,  which  was  invariably  of 
an  inspiring  nature.  I  saw  many  most  beautiful  vases,  in 
which  were  growing  plants  of  delicate  odor  and  refreshing 
beauty.  Flowers  were  not  only  in  perfume  without,  but 
were  in  every  part,  and  in  almost  every  chamber.  I  could 
not  estimate  the  rooms  or  inhabitants  of  this  vast  seminary, 
which  must  excel,  I  think,  in  size  as  well  as  grandeur,  every 
earthly  real  and  ideal.  My  guide  is  one  of  the  band  of 
teachers  occupying  it,  and  engaged  in  the  inculcation  of  spir 
itual  truth  to  those  who  have  already  passed  through  the  disci- 
pline of  the  dark  spheres  and  require  information  upon  the 


176  EMMORTALTTY. 

larger  aspects  and  duties  of   the  higher  life,  to  souls  whose 
boundary  henceforth  is  only  in  the  solar  system. 

A  crescent  contracted  may  convey  a  better  idea  of  the  gen- 
eral appearance  of  the  extraordinary  structure  I  am  powerless 
to  adequately  describe.  Between  the  points  or  arms  of  the 
horseshoe  is  a  most  exquisite  enclosure  of  lovely  flowers. 
Numerous  doors  open  upon  it,  and  being  aliove  the  level,  are 
connected  with  it  by  steps.  In  the  windows  is  something  re- 
sembling glass,  apparently  stained,  of  many  shades  and  with 
unique  figures  painted  upon  it.  A  kind  of  balcony  overlooks 
the  sea,  supported,  as  are  many  other  such  around  the  build- 
ing, upon  light,  graceful  pillars.  Many  places  here  I  cannot 
describe,  as  they  are  utterly  unlike  anj^thing  of  earth.  There 
do  not  seem  to  be  any  places  set  apart  for  sleeping  or  eating; 
the  first  being  to  them  but  as  a  dreamy  reverie,  and  their  sus- 
tenance chiefly  derived  from  inhalation,  of  which  the  refuse 
is  cast  ofif  through  the  pores  of  the  skin  by  insensible  excre 
tion.  The  chairs  are  more  of  the  character  of  lounges  and 
couches  than  aught  else  I  can  compare  them  to.  In  all  these 
spheres  I  see  men  and  women  working  out  their  salvation 
under  the  direction  of  more  exalted  intelligences.  Their 
dress  is  usually  a  flowing  and  graceful  garb,  in  no  way  im- 
peding the  activity  of  the  limbs,  is  rich  and  pure.  As  they 
approach  that  portion  of  what  I  have  called  the  mother-of- 
pearl,  it  reflects  the  peculiar  radiance  from  the  aura  of  each, 
and  this  occasions  the  changefulness  which  I  at  first  appre- 
hended in  its  tints.  Just  between  the  poles  of  the  magnet 
is  a  great  statue,  carved  in  what  appears  to  be  marble.  It 
represents  a  warrior  who  with  one  hand  is  shading  his  eyes,  in 
the  other  grasps  a  sword,  his  whole  frame  poised  forward  as 
if  for  a  spring  upon  some  foe  ;  while  from  between  his  feet  a 
superb  eagle  is  spreading  his  wings  to  soar  away.  Farther  in, 
between  the  arms  of  the  horseshoe,  another :  a  woman  reclin- 
ing and  holding  a  globe,  which  she  intently  regards.  I  think 
it  symbolizes  one  of  the  planets.  Scattered  throughout  all 
the  grounds  are  other  sculptures  of  marvelous  power  and 
beauty.     A  great  gallery  of  paintings  contains  a  picture  of  a 


SPIRIT   VOICES    AND   PROPHECIES.  177 

storm  at  sea ;  another  of  a  conflagration  ;  but  beyond  the  bare 
outlines  of  the  subjects  I  could  not  see  anything,  while  I  felt 
that  it  was  idle  to  endeavor  to  obtain  their  meaning.  In  the 
woods  there  are  birds  of  bright  plumage  and  enchanting  song 
In  the  streams  and  adjoining  sea  are  fish,  sporting  in  their 
element.  There  are  halls  here  filled  with  antiquities;  and 
something  like  a  tall  majestic  pyramid  peers  up  in  the  dis- 
tance. The  pervading  quality  of  all  is  that  of  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  noble  souls  who,  in  intellectual  exercises  and  reli- 
gious faith,  pursue  their  aspirations  in  pure  lives  of  angel 
ministry  to  one  another,  and  to  mortal  worlds. 

This  is  but  a  slight  sketch  and  imperfect  description  of  the 
glories  of  the  angels'  homes,  among  which  is  that  of  the  gen- 
erous and  gracious  spirit  who  has  made  my  feeble  faculties 
his  own,  by  untiring  charities  of  an  unbounded  affection. 
His  abode  is  worthy  of  himself.  Both  are  heavenly.  These 
glimpses  are  emblematic  rather  than  actual,  and  of  promise 
more  than  fulfillment.  If  at  any  future  day  I  be  led  by 
that  dearest  of  teachers  nearer  to  himself  and  it,  I  will  then 
essay  to  outline  more  completely  that  which  has  touched  my 
eyes  and  heart,  but  not  my  tongue.     The  rest  is  silence. 

Mev.  John  Stewart's  Borne  in  Spirit  Life^  through   Thomas 
Walker,  Medium. 

Names  with  us  have  a  spiritual  significance.  Rising  gently 
out  of  Angel  Lake  is  Charity  Island,  the  abode  of  congenial 
spirits,  who  take  special  delight  in  the  exercise  of  their  sym- 
pathetic and  devotional  natures.  It  is  elevated  just  above 
the  silvery  waters  that  ripple  musically  against  the  shores  of 
the  lake.  Near  the  interior  of  the  island,  among  towering 
transparent  rocks,  is  situated  my  home,  somewhat  irregular  in 
form,  but  adapted  to  my  taste. 

The  island  is  not  large,  yet  decorated  around  the  shores 
with  a  gallery  of  floral  beauties.  Some  of  these  flowers  are 
so  arranged  as  to  form  a  carpet  of  variegated  tints.  Away  a 
little  in  the  distance  pastures  spread  their  light  green  foliage, 
and  orchards  bear  their  golden  fruit.  Near  these,  in  a  cluster 
12 


178  IMMORTALITY. 

of  trees,  shaded  by  their  foliage,  is  my  house,  seven  stories  in 
height.  The  rooms  are  somewhat  irregular  in  shape,  the  first 
story  being  in  the  form  of  an  octagon,  the  second  an  irregular 
square,  and  so  on  to  the  seventh  ending  in  a  dome.  The  fur- 
niture of  each  room  is  adapted  to  the  use  we  make  of  the 
apartment.  The  lower  room,  consecrated  to  educational  pur- 
poses and  devotional  exercises,  has  little  furniture  besides 
desks  and  seats.  The  walls  are  decorated  with  creeping 
vines,  the  ceiling  festooned  with  evergreens,  and  the  windows 
are  adorned  with  orange-colored  curtains.  The  second  story 
is  for  discussions  and  lectures  upon  moral  subjects.  Here, 
after  my  old  habit,  I  have  had  a  pulpit  arranged,  where  I  and 
other  spirits  oftentimes  stand  to  discourse  upon  religious  sub- 
jects. In  the  third  story  we  meet  for  social  enjoyment,  hence 
the  parallelogram  shape.  Sometimes  there  is  dancing  and 
marches  here,  though  I  do  not  myself  indulge  in  these  exer- 
cises. 

The  fourth  story  is  what  we  call  the  "  Octagon  of  Luxury," 
because  here  are  elegant  paintings  and  instruments  of  music, 
and  through  the  channel  of  music  we  pour  out  our  souls'  deep- 
est devotions.  The  fifth  story  is  where  we  have  our  library- 
room  and  studio ;  the  sixth,  where  we  display  our  choicest 
collections  of  art ;  and  the  seventh  is  divided  into  rooms  for 
repose ;  —  here  we  also  have  a  magnificent  observatory. 

The  materials  of  the  building  differ  according  to  the  uses 
assigned  to  each  apartment.  In  the  rooms  of  recreation  the 
material  of  the  walls  is  of  a  translucent  nature,  and  through 
them  we  can  see  all  that  is  transpiring  upon  the  islands.  In 
the  room  for  devotion  the  material  is  more  of  a  staid  nature, 
imprisoning  us,  as  it  were,  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  soul,  and 
forbidding  the  entrance  of  any  frivolity.  The  conditions  lock 
out  the  murmuring  of  the  fountains,  the  music  of  the  lake, 
the  rhythmic  movement  of  the  flowers,  the  attuned  melody  of 
the  foliage,  the  harmonies  of  the  island,  and  bring  us  into 
closer  communion  with  our  inmost  souls  and  the  Diviue  Pres- 
ence. 

We  go  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  apartments  by  means 


SPIRIT  VOICES   AND  PEOPHECIES.  179 

of  a  downy  chariot,  propelled  mostly  by  the  will-power,  and 
which  travels  upon  the  outside  of  the  building.  Each  story 
is  less  than  the  lower  one,  thus  forming  a  walk  enclosing  the 
upper  room.  These  walks  are  adorned  with  statues,  paint- 
ings, flowers,  and  creeping  vines.  This  is  a  description  of  my 
spirit  home  —  the  home  of  John  Stewart,  once  a  Presbyterian 
minister  of  England. 

Q.  Did  you  enter  this  home  when  first  leaving  the  earth- 
form? 

A,  No.  It  was  only  after  growth  and  advancement.  Then 
I  was  taken  by  a  band  of  spirits  and  introduced  to  two  others, 
who  were  in  this  house,  and  told  that  this  should  be  my  home 
until  I  was  fitted  for  a  higher  and  better. 

Q.  Who  erected  this  residence  ? 

A.  I  cannot  tell  who  first  built  it,  as  it  had  been  in  prepara- 
tion for  ages,  each  occupant  doing  something  to  beautify  it, 
and  thus  leaving  his  lasting  impress  upon  it.  This  should  be 
an  incentive  to  true  and  pure  living  upon  earth.  Jesus  un- 
doubtedly referred  to  a  heavenly  residence  when  he  said,  "  I 
go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you." 

Q.    Is  marriage  perpetual  in  the  spheres  ? 

A.  Not  exactly  in  the  arbitrary  sense  in  which  you  under- 
stand it  upon  earth ;  and  yet  I  have  my  once  earthly  wife. 
If  on  earth  you  are  wisely  fitted  for  each  other,  and  pro- 
gressed together,  you  will  naturally  turn  to  her  who  on  earth 
was  more  than  friend.  Spiritual  love  reaches  out  to  an  oppo- 
site here  much  as  it  does  upon  earth.  Here  in  our  island 
home  we  yearn  for  social  enjoyment,  for  the  divine  blending 
of  opposite  souls;  and  whilst  we  love  humanity,  and  can  lov- 
ingly smile  upon  all,  we  nevertheless  turn  in  this  sphere  each 
and  all  to  their  soul-mates.  Other  spheres  doubtless  have 
different  experiences.  With  us  there  is  no  lust.  The  Christ 
spirit  of  purity  has  overcome  the  Adam  in  our  natures.  We 
walk  in  the  resurrection  life  of  a  love  that  is  pure  and  heav- 
enly. Whether  this  condition  will  remain  eternal,  blooming 
out  from  the  special  into  the  universal,  I  have  no  means  of 


180  IMMORTALITY. 

knowing,  and  theorizing  upon  the  subject  seems  to  me  a  use- 
less waste  of  time. 

Q.  Are  tliere  not  spirits  who  never  found  a  marital  mate, 
and  are  yet  happy  ? 

A.  Yes,  most  certainly  I  Bruno,  the  distinguished  martjT, 
resides  with  other  noble  souls  on  Celibate  Hill,  and  is  ex- 
quisitely happy,  married  to  the  universe  of  great,  beating, 
loving  souls.  ...  I  wear  white  flowing  robes  and  long  flow- 
ing hair.  At  our  public  meetings  there  is  a  general  invitation 
given.  We  live  in  what  you  would  term  a  community,  and 
do  not  generally  say  ''  jut/  home,"  but  ''  our  home."  Upon 
entering  this  new  home  I  was  introduced  by  a  Swedenborgian 
divine,  known  on  earth  by  the  name  of  Noble.  One  of  the 
residents  of  this  home  was  the  philosopher  of  earth  named 
Bacon.  It  should  be  remembered  by  the  children  of  men 
that  it  is  not  so  much  intellect  on  earth  as  goodness,  purity, 
and  self-sacrifice,  that  prepares  the  soul  for  the  homes  of  the 
blest. 

Q.  Why  is  the  lowest  story  in  your  residence  used  for  de- 
votional exercises? 

A.  Because  it  is  in  keeping  with  the  gravity  required  as  a 
basis;  and  further,  all  future  progression  must  have  prayer 
and  religious  culture  for  its  foundation.  .  .  .  Symbols  are  im- 
pressive as  well  as  the  supporting  pillars  of  truth.  In  our 
library  are  precious  manuscripts  from  nations  now  forgotten 
upon  your  earth ;  also  a  large  variety  of  volumes  both  ancient 
and  modern.  These  are  not  obtained  by  the  merely  will- 
power;  if  so,  we  might  possibly  will  from  Omnipotence  His 
knowledge.  We  obtain  them  by  applying  to  the  authors,  or 
to  those  who  possess  copies.  I  have  not  only  many  religious 
volumes  of  the  past  in  my  library,  but  the  books  of  the  most 
prominent  spiritualists.  .  -  .  Life  with  us  is  a  perpetual  lux- 
ury. We  partake  of  delicious  fruits ;  but  in  a  higher  sense, 
perhaps,  it  may  be  said  that  every  pore  of  the  spirit  body 
has  a  mouth,  and  this  might  be  called  subsistence  by  the 
spiritual  law  of  assimilation.  ...  If  the  life  on  earth  was 
moral  and  harmonious,  the  change  from  sphere  to  sphere  is 


8PIEIT  VOICES   AND   PROPHECIES.  181 

^.•adual  aud  delightful ;  but  if  ou  earth  the  life  was  selfish 
and  vile,  then  in  passing  from  the  second  to  a  higher  sphere 
the  individual  experiences  something  akin  to  a  "  second  death  " 
—  a  death  of  suffering.  "  Blessed  are  those  over  whom  the 
second  death  hath  no  power." 

Questions  answered  through  the  Mediumship  of  Mrs.  Maria  31. 
King,  of  Hammonton,  N.  J.,  addressed  to  the  Spirit  controUing 
in  her  Public  Teachings. 

Q.   About  how  long  have  you  been  in  the  land  of  spirits  ? 

A.  My  experience  of  spirit  life  has  been  sufiSciently  long 
and  varied  to  entitle  me  to  the  place  of  teacher  through  one 
of  our  accepted  media ;  therefore  be  pleased  to  accept  the 
answers  I  shall  give  to  your  questions  for  what  they  are 
worth,  without  reference  to  the  years  I  have  numbered  as  a 
spirit. 

Q.  In  the  process  of  what  we  term  death,  were  you  uncon- 
scious ? 

A.  I  was  unconscious  while  the  process  of  spirit  birth  was 
in  progress  —  that  is,  while  the  organized  spirit  body  was  es- 
caping from  its  prison-house  of  flesh.  The  period  of  dream- 
less slumber  was  brief  in  my  case,  age  having  prepared  my 
spirit  for  an  easy  exit  from  the  bod3^ 

Q.  Have  you  a  localized  spirit  home;  and  if  so,  is  it  within 
the  atmosphere  of  our  earth  ? 

A.  I  have  a  beautiful  spirit  home,  as  precious  and  as  neces- 
sary to  me  as  is  theirs  to  them  of  any  of  earth's  toilers  who 
lay  the  burden  of  their  daily  labor  outside  the  threshold  of 
"  home,  sweet  home,"  and  in  the  bosom  of  affection  briefly 
forget  the  struggle  for  existence,  and  find  that  rest  indispen- 
sable to  continued  effort.  My  house  is  my  paradise,  wherein 
I  revel  in  the  delights  of  love  and  friendship ;  it  is  my  ark  of 
refuge  from  the  toils  incident  to  a  busy  life,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  is  a  sanctuary  wherein  I  devote  myself  to  studies  re- 
quiring most  intense  application  and  freedom  from  disturbing 
influences. 

The  temple  wherein  the  dove  of  sacred  inspiration  descends 


182  IMMORTALITY. 

most  freely  upon  me  is  the  secluded  sanctum  in  my  own 
home.  Here  I  am  most  free  from  the  disturbing  influences  of 
other  minds.  Its  location  is  beyond  the  earth,  beyond  the 
solar  system,  in  a  vast  aromal  belt  called  the  Second  Sphere. 

Q.  If  that  home  corresponds  to  what  we  call  a  house  or 
palace,  did  you  construct  it  yourself? 

A.  My  house  corresponds  with  what  you  call  a  dwelling, 
with  its  necessary  surroundings.  The  labor  of  the  hands,  di- 
rected by  cultivated  taste  and  skill  —  intelligent  "  will-power  " 
—  were  brought  into  requisition  for  its  construction.  I  as- 
sisted in  the  building.  Co-operation  is  the  rule  with  us  in 
such  labors. 

Q.   Can  you  traverse  the  spaces  to  other  planets? 

A.  I  traverse  the  interstellar  spaces  in  company  with  those 
who,  like  myself,  are  on  errands  connected  with  their  studies. 
We  make  a  pathway  for  ourselves  as  we  go  by  condensing 
the  rarefied  magnetic  ethers  that  are  everywhere  in  space. 

Q.  What  estimate  do  spirits  of  your  plane  put  upon  Jesus 
of  Nazareth? 

A.  We  hold  Jesus  to  have  been  a  man  born  a  seer,  a 
prophet,  endowed  with  remarkable  inediumistic  gifts,  which 
were  improved  by  development  —  by  the  operation  of  "  the 
spirit  "  or  spirits.  .  .  .  He  was  misunderstood  by  his  imme- 
diate followers  as  being  something  superior  to  man,  and  his 
deeds  were  exaggerated  by  their  unreasoning  credulity.  Ele- 
vated above  the  multitude  by  his  superior  spirituality,  he  was 
qualified  to  be  a  teacher  of  the  sublime  inspirations  which 
flowed  into  his  receptive  mind  from  wise  and  pure  angels, 
who  made  him  their  mouthpiece  to  the  masses.  .  .  .  Pure 
and  spiritual  in  his  life,  he  was  prepared  for  rapid  progress  as 
a  spirit ;  and  now,  with  other  ancient  prophets  and  exalted 
men,  he  holds  a  place  among  celestial  spirits,  having  expe- 
rienced his  second  spiritual  birth,  and  become  a  dweller  in 
the  third  sphere. 

Q.  Are  the  birds  and  animals,  if  existing  in  your  sphere, 
the  outbirth  of  and  indigenous  to  that  sphere,  or  are  they 
veritable  individualized  forms  of  our  earth  ? 


SPIRIT  VOICES  AND  PROPHEOIES.  183 

A.  Your  questions  eacli  suggest  a  chapter  of  principles  for 
their  proper  elucidation.  But  briefly,  animals  of  the  highest 
orders  only  have  an  existence  in  this  sphere,  the  life  essences 
of  such  only  gravitating  to  this  plane.  Animals  regain  a 
brief  existence  on  the  spirit  plane,  after  having  lost  it  on  the 
passage  thither,  in  the  current  of  magnetic  life,  whose  attrac- 
tions and  repulsions  are  too  strong  for  imperfect  organizations 
to  resist  and  retain  their  individuality.  The  reawakening  of 
an  animal  to  conscious  life  on  the  higher  plane  is  the  reor- 
ganization of  the  elements  of  the  being,  which  have  been 
severed,  but  which  gravitate  together  naturally  when  no  su- 
perior force  intervenes  to  hinder.  This  sphere  is  enlivened 
by  animal  life  as  a  necessity  of  infantile  man.  Law  ordains 
it  to  be  so.  But  man  rules  all  elements  of  the  sphere  as  he 
increases  in  power  and  wisdom.  He  will  finally  divert  to  his 
own  use  all  elements  and  forces,  and  become  able  to  people 
his  realm  with  animal  forms  of  his  own  creation ;  or,  accord- 
ing to  his  pleasure,  divert  to  other  uses  the  essences  suited  to 
this  purpose. 

Q.  What,  in  your  opinion,  is  the  endless  destiny  of  the 
conscious  soul  ? 

A.    "  The  soul,  immortal  as  its  Sire,  can  never  die." 

"  God  breathed  into  man  the  breath  of  life,  and  he  became 
a  living  soul." 

How  expressive  this  language !  The  spirit  of  man  as  an 
emanation  of  Deity  necessarily  inherits  the  nature  and  the  im- 
mortality of  its  "  Sire,"  being  formed  in  his  image  as  the  child 
of  the  parent  —  that  is,  being  an  entity  organized  in  harmony 
with  eternal  principles. 


184  IMMOBTAIilTT. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

MANY   VOICES   FROM  THE   SPIRIT   LAND. 

A  Sailor* 8  Sad  Story ^  through  the  Blediumship  of  Peter 

Sterling,  of  Melbourne,  Australia. 

Invited  to  spend  an  evening  at  the  charming  residence  of 
Miss  Ricketts,  West  Melbourne,  Australia,  I  found  myself 
in  a  quiet  spiritual  sdance.  Very  soon,  Mrs.  Sterling,  one  of 
the  ladies  present,  becoming  entranced,  gave  me,  among  other 
unexpected  tests,  a  description  of  an  adopted  child,  Louis, 
also  of  three  immortal  buds  of  our  own,  transplanted  to  the 
gardens  of  God  ere  a  breath  or  stain  had  tarnished  their  stain- 
less souls. 

Sitting  in  the  circle  and  quietly  musing,  a  strange  impression 
seized  me  to  take  the  hand  of  Mrs.  Sterling's  son,  and  magnet- 
ically assist  a  spirit  in  taking  possession  of  him.  I  did  not 
yield  to  the  impression  till  it  became  almost  potent  enough  to 
be  pronounced  a  voice.  I  have  an  utter  abhorrence  of  palm- 
ing off  for  spirit  impressions  what  I  feel  may  be  my  own. 
Obeying  the  impression  at  last,  however,  and  taking  the  hand 
of  the  young  man  in  mine,  placing  my  thumb  upon  the  ulnar 
nerve,  he  became  tremulous,  and  then  spasmodic,  reeling  like 
a  sailor.  But  the  controlling  influence  failed  to  speak.  Dur- 
ing a  subsequent  session  this  sailor  spirit  uttered  a  few  rough 
sentences.  At  the  fifth  sitting  he  talked  quite  fluently,  though 
in  the  idiom  of  the  sea  and  the  sailor.  He  was  an  utter 
stranger  to  us  all,  save  the  young  man  through  whom  he  was 
attempting  a  communication.  His  story  was  a  most  pitiful 
one.  Condensed,  it  was  briefly  this :  —  Himself  and  this 
young  man,  Mr.  Sterling,  were  most  intimate  friends,  boon- 
companions,  sailing  among  the  East  India  Isles.     These  are 


MANY   VOICES   FROM  THE  SPIRIT   LAND.  185 

the  regions  of  occasional  cyclones;  and  during  one  of  these 
terrific  hurricanes,  or  whirling  storms,  and  while  this  English 
sailor  was  trying  to  fasten  Peter  to  the  main-mast,  that  he 
might  not  be  washed  overboard,  a  rolling  wave  struck  the 
young  Englishman,  and  hurled  him  into  the  depths  of  the 
mad  waves.  Peter,  the  medium  he  was  now  seeking  to  con- 
trol, after  nearly  losing  his  life,  reached  the  harbor  safely,  and 
at  length  his  home  ;  but  the  young  Englishman,  a  jolly,  world- 
ly, unspiritual  sailor,  loving  Peter  intensel}',  had  gone  down, 
the  body  at  least,  among  the  green  sea-weeds  of  the  deep ! 
Obtaining  control  of  the  medium,  through  my  psychological 
assistance,  he  gave  his  experience,  his  hopes,  and  aims  in  spirit 
life,  in  nearly  the  following  words : 

''  I  was  trying  to  fix  Peter,  this  medium,  safely,  when  an 
ttwful  wave  swept  me  off  from  the  deck.  I  went  overboard 
headlong  down  into  the  deep  waters.  I  do  not  remember  my 
struggles.  Sharks  must  have  eaten  my  body.  I  knew  nothing 
for  a  while,  but  can  give  yoH  no  correct  idea  how  long  I  was 
unconscious.  When  I  came  to  myself  I  could  not  understand 
it.  I  was  alive,  I  was  myself,  I  was  alone,  I  was  dazed,  I  was 
in  space,  and  yet  in  stifling  darkness.  Oh,  God,  how  I  suf- 
fered !  No  light,  no  heaven,  no  home,  no  Peter,  ?io  Peter! 
But  a  spirit,  once  a  sailor,  yet  now  alone  in  space,  and  that 
space  darkness  1  I  did  not  know  where  to  go  or  what  to  do. 
Talk  about  fire  and  brimstone !  Oh,  skipper,  [this  was  a 
sailor  term  for  a  captain.  He  was  now  applying  it  to  the 
writer,  because  he  had  supervised  and  aided  him  in  control- 
ling his  friend  Peter,]  you  have  no  conception  of  my  condi- 
tion. I  wept,  I  wildly  wondered  and  prayed,  and  while  pray- 
ing I  saw  a  flashing  gleam  of  light.  It  inspired  hope ;  it 
seemed  to  move  nearer  to  me,  and  proved  to  be  this  medium's 
spirit  brother.  He  saw  my  confusion,  and  speaking  kindly, 
took  me  to  this  medium  — you  call  him  Peter.  We  were  more 
than  friends.  What  one  had  we  both  had.  I  was  the  oldest; 
and  now,  helped  by  his  spirit  brother,  I  had  got  to  him  again, 
and  I  clung  right  to  him  :  but  I  was  not  happy.  I  followed 
him  everywhere  he  went,  and,  strange  as  it  seemed  to  me, 


186  IMMORTALITY. 

though  I  could  turn  his  mind  in  this  direction  or  that,  I  could 
not  make  him  know  that  I  was  present  with  him.  Oh,  how 
I  thank  you  for  helping  me  to  get  this  influence  over  him ; 
and  how  I  thank  the  good  lady  of  this  house  for  asking  you 
all  to  come ! 

"  Write  to  my  parents  and  tell  them  I  shall  never  return  to 
them  again  in  my  body  —  the  fish  have  eaten  that.  They 
weep.  Tell  them  not  to  mourn.  Jack,  their  sailor  son,  is  not 
so  bad  off  as  he  might  be.  But  I  am  not  happy.  No,  oh,  no  I 
I  am  miserable." 

Here  the  spirit  wept  profusely,  through  the  organism  of  the 
medium.  I  said  to  him  kindly  :  "Do  not  weep  ;  we  are  your 
friends.  Look  up  prayerfully  to  God  and  the  good  angels,  and 
you  will  see  bright  and  beautiful  spirits."  At  this  he  ex- 
claimed : 

"  I  see  them  !  oh,  I  do  see  them  I  They  can  take  me  to 
them,  but  they  will  not.  They  stand  and  look  at  me.  I'm 
not  worthy.  I  am  unhappy  and  miserable.  They  tell  me  I 
have  got  to  work  my  way  up  to  them.  All  they  can  do  is  to 
help  me  ;  and  I  want  you  all  to  help  me." 

Turning  to  the  medium's  mother  he  said :  "  I  want  to  call  you 
my  mother,  and  I  want  this  medium,  Peter,  for  my  younger 
brother.  I  want  to  claim  these  ladies  for  my  sisters.  And 
you,  skipper,  have  been  an  angel  to  me ;  you've  helped  me, 
and  I'm  going  to  help  this  Indian  spirit  by  you  —  Old  Feathers 
I  call  him  —  to  take  care  of  you  on  your  voyage  home.  Here, 
skipper,  give  us  your  hand  I  This  is  the  sailor's  grip.  Sailors 
are  not  hypocrites,  they  mean  what  they  say  ;  and  by  this  grip 
I  pledge  my  word  to  go  with  you  on  the  waters  to  your  home, 
wherever  it  may  be.  If  there  comes  a  storm,  call  on  me ;  I 
know  the  ropes  !  You  will  not  be  sea-sick,  or  have  any  acci- 
dent. Old  Feathers  and  I  have  looked  at  the  steamship  you 
are  going  on,  and  we  know  the  berth  that  you  are  to  occupy. 
Old  Feathers  impressed  you  to  take  it,  and  he  has  since  been 
magnetizing  it,  but  what  for  I  don't  know.  Look  to  him  on 
land,  but  look  to  the  blue-jacket  on  the  ocean.  Sailors  have 
hearts ;  they  do  not  forget  favors,  but  stand  by  those  who  help 
them." 


MANY   VOICES  FROM  THE  SPIRIT   LAND.  187 

This  occurrence  transpired  just  before  my  sailing  from  Aus- 
tralia for  Ceylon,  on  my  way  lo  India,  South  Africa,  and  Eng- 
land, homeward.  This  sailor,  rough  as  the  unpolished  dia- 
mond, yet  frank,  naturally  truthful,  and  good-hearted,  was  on 
his  way  to  the  serener  light  of  heaven,  and,  in  justice  to  him, 
I  must  say  that,  considering  the  stormy  passages  by  sea,  I 
suffered  nothing  from  sea-sickness,  incident  to  all  my  previous 
voyages,  neither  was  I  overtaken  by  any  accident.  When  the 
weather  was  rough,  I  was  vividly  conscious  of  this  sailor's 
presence  ;  and  there  is  not  a  lingering  doubt  in  my  mind  but 
that  he  sacredly  fulfilled  his  promise,  accompanying  me  to  my 
American  home. 

Often,  after  my  departure,  and  while  on  ship-board,  my 
friends  in  Australia  held  their  accustomed  sittings,  and  calling 
for  the  sailor  spirit  to  influence  Peter,  he  did  not  announce  his 
presence ;  but  at  subsequent  sittings,  and  while  I  was  upon 
the  land  in  Ceylon  or  South  Africa,  he  would  visit  the  circle, 
and  give  them  information  that  I  was  then  disembarked  and 
doing  my  work  on  shore. 

Miss  Ricketts  published  in  the  Harbinger  of  Light  n  remark- 
able test,  relating  to  a  missing  letter  directed  to  Mr.  Ster- 
ling. This  sailor  spirit  directed  Peter  to  go  to  Flinder's 
Lane  and  find  a  Mr.  Smith,  for  he  had  a  letter  for  him  from 
the  skipper.  Mr.  Sterling,  whom  the  sailor  spirit  familiarly 
calls  Peter,  seriously  doubted  it,  but  determined  to  test  the 
truthfulness  of  Jack,  and  accordingly  went  to  the  place  desig- 
nated, and,  quite  to  his  surprise,  found  the  foretold  letter. 
This  spirit  has  proved  himself,  though  uncultured,  to  be  emi- 
nently truthful  and  trustworthy. 

"  Strolling  Player^''''  a  Spirit  controlling  J.  J.  Morse,  London. 

Q.  I  wish  you  to  describe  minutely  your  spirit  home,  and 
state  whether  it  is  within  the  atmosphere  of  our  earth,  with 
other  matters  which  you  think  will  be  interesting  and  profita- 
ble to  us  ? 

A.  While  the  homes  of  multitudes  are  about  and  within 
the  atmosphere  of  your  earth,  mine  is  beyond  it,  and,  in  loca 


188  I]MMORTALITY. 

tion,  nearly  parallel  with  its  equatorial  regions.  It  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  pleasant  stretch  of  country,  with  an  undulating 
plain  rising  some  distance  from  my  house.  My  residence  is 
near  the  margin  of  a  large  lake,  by  the  side  of  a  high  moun- 
tain range,  the  ascent  being  gradual,  broken  here  and  there 
by  evergreen  hills.  The  grounds  are  sheltered  by  ornamental 
trees,  planted  there  a  long  time  since  by  ancestors  of  mine, 
who  have  migrated  from  their  home,  bequeathing  it  to  the 
next  comer ;  it  was  thus  presented  to  me,  and  I,  in  my  turn, 
will  probably  bequeath  it  to  some  one  else.  In  the  adjoining 
shrubbery  are  a  series  of  delightful  walks,  and  winding 
through  them  is  a  little  stream,  silvery  bright  in  appearance. 
and  spanned  by  light  bridges  of  trellis-work,  of  a  material 
not  unlike  that  of  mother-of-pearl.  Within  the  retreats  are 
quiet  grottoes,  formed  by  the  flexible  shrubs  and  fragrant  flow 
ers.  These  grottoes,  or  alcoves,  serve  a  useful  purpose,  foi 
they  are  so  many  places  for  schools,  and  abound  mostly  in 
those  parts  frequented  by  ray  spirit  companion,  whose  mis- 
sion is  the  education  and  training  of  orphan  children.  These 
orphan  children  are  not  those  who  belonged  to  the  truly  mar- 
ried, but  those  of  the  unspiritually  married  on  earth.  These 
little  ones  are  trained  by  my  companion  in  the  principles  and 
graces  which  were  not  originally  imparted  and  instilled  into 
them.  .  .  .  Approaching  the  old  residence  from  the  alcoves, 
a  broad  lawn  rises  in  front  of  the  glorious  edifice,  and  running 
round  this  are  balconies,  which  give  access  to  the  upper 
apartments.  On  one  side  of  the  building  are  my  apartments, 
on  the  other  side  those  of  my  companion.  At  one  end  of  the 
building  is  a  room  —  mine  —  especially  consecrated  to  myself ; 
my  inner  sanctum,  devoted  to  meditation  and  reflection  upon 
the  gravest  questions  of  the  hour  and  age.  Towards  the  hall- 
way is  another  apartment,  devoted  to  the  interchange  of  visits. 
Here  we  discuss  and  talk,  and  exchange  our  sympathies  one 
with  another.  Still  nearer  to  the  hall  there  is  another 
apartment,  devoted  to  the  reception  of  our  personal  and  mos* 
intimate  friends.  M}'  own  sanctum  contains  no  useless  orna- 
mentation, partaking  more  of  art.      Some  claim  that  art  is 


MANY   VOICES   FKOM   THE   SPIRIT   LAND.  189 

cold  and  cheerless.  If  disposed,  they  could  thus  fault  my 
apartment ;  but  to  me  it  is  absolutely  inviting,  being  filled 
with  books,  scrolls,  and  unique  curiosities,  which  I  have  col- 
lected in  traveling  through  the  spirit  spheres;  and  in  one 
case  I  became  possessed  of  the  history  and  the  associations 
of  a  brotherhood  with  which  I  am  connected  —  the  "  Bril- 
liant Cross."  The  next  room  is  furnished  in  a  magnificent 
style,  profuse  in  flowers,  and  having  several  small  fountains. 
The  birds  fill  the  air  with  their  enchanting  songs,  and  the 
flowers  load  the  atmosphere  with  their  fragrance.  Here  we 
invite  ancient  spirits  to  meet  with  us. 

The  general  apartment  is  furnished  with  all  sorts  of  instru- 
ments for  experimental  investigation.  There  are  books  for 
the  studious,  and  rare  objects  of  interest  for  the  curious. 
There  is  one  apaitment  for  the  inspiration  of  poetic  thought. 
Here  is  an  immense  number  of  poetical  compositions;  and 
here  this  class  of  minds  meet  to  discuss  their  merits.  In  an 
apartment  of  the  ground-floor  is  my  congenial  companion's  holy 
of  holies,  inaccessible  save  to  the  owner.  It  is  devoted  to 
her  peculiar  studies  and  meditations.  Here  she  indulges  her 
taste  in  the  composition  of  music,  poetry,  painting,  and  other 
pleasant  occupations.  In  the  rear  of  this  apartment  is  a 
museum,  filled  with  books,  relics,  and  revelations  relating  to 
the  histories,  ijresent  and  past,  of  the  genesis  of  the  children 
we  have  had  under  our  charge.  We  are  collecting  these 
items  for  a  special  work,  which  may  be  given  to  the  world  at 
some  future  time  ;  for  it  is  among  our  purposes  to  trace  out 
every  aim  and  action  of  the  earthly  life  in  the  development 
of  the  conscious  soul.  In  the  center  of  the  museum  is  a 
fountain  of  musical  waters.  The  roof  is  domed,  and  has  a 
blue  ground,  with  golden  stars  upon  it.  There  is  an  aperture 
in  the  center,  covered  by  a  transparent  material,  and  deco- 
rated with  blue  stars,  upon  the  groundwork  of  which  is  this 
motto  :  "  For  others  that  which  we  wish  for  ourselves.'' 

In  the  upper  apartment  is  a  wing,  consisting  of  a  large 
hall,  capable  of  accommodating  about  seven  hundred.  Here 
the  children  often  assemble  to  engage  in  various  exercises, 


190  IMMORTALITY. 

and  where  we  listen  to  the  expression  of  their  hopes  and 
purposes.  Tiie  decorations  and  influences  of  this  room  are 
adapted  to  the  mental  culture  and  harmonial  development  of 
these  orphan  children  that  we  so  delight  to  instruct.  Often 
we  teach  in  the  open  air,  that  is,  in  the  alcoves  I  before  re- 
ferred to,  assisted  occasionally  by  those  who  have  attained  to 
greater  wisdom  than  ourselves.  Thus  the  education  of  these 
psychologically  orphaned  little  ones  is  carried  on,  and  this  is 
the  chief  occupation  of  my  beloved  partner  and  myself. 

Q.  When  you  left  your  body  by  death,  in  what  part  of  the 
universe  did  you  find  yourself? 

A.  I  came  into  consciousness  in  the  room  where  my  body 
was  still  lying.  My  sympathies  and  my  home  were  with  those 
on  earth  whom  I  still  loved.  It  was  some  years  before  I  was 
prepared  to  rise  out  of,  and  leave  your  world's  atmosphere. 
You  being  a  spiritual  and  a  natural  man,  must  perforce  be 
sustained  by  the  conditions  of  two  worlds.  Death  is  but  the 
disuniting  of  the  inner  from  the  outer,  but  not  necessarily  a 
removal  of  the  inner  nature  from  its  present  conditions;  these 
are  maintained  so  long  as  there  is  aught  strong  enough  in  the 
way  of  hopes,  in  the  way  of  fears,  or  in  the  way  of  attractions 
of  any  kind,  to  hold  you  to  the  spiritual  conditions  of  ter- 
restrial life  in  which  you  have  formerly  existed.  Until  these 
links  are  broken,  you  are  more  or  less  tightly  chained.  Every 
round  in  the  ladder  must  be  pressed,  and  the  work  of  earth 
must  be  finished,  before  a  spirit  can  permanently  dwell  in  the 
higher  heavens  of  beatific  beauty  and  bliss. 

Q.    To  what  does  sex  primarily  relate  ? 

A.  Remember  that  there  are  some  subjects  upon  which 
spirits  theorize  as  well  as  mortals.  In  my  opinion,  sex  is  a 
derived  or  secondary  quality,  and  is  maintained  so  long  as  the 
integral  factor  —  the  soul  —  is  connected  with  secondary  or 
derived  conditions.  I  have  heard  it  stated  by  ancient  spirits, 
whom  you  sometimes  denominate  the  gods,  that  there  comes 
a  time  in  the  far-off  distance  when  the  integral  factor,  or 
soul,  rises  up  to  that  sublime  altitude,  where  it  is  consciously 
independent  of  the   secondary  or  derived  condition  of  sex. 


MANY   VOICES  FROM  THE  SPIEIT  LAND.  191 

This  is  called  the  realm  of  universal  love  —  the  state  of  pure 
being  I 

Q.  Does  your  love  for  this  world  decrease  the  longer  you 
live  in  the  higher  and  better  world  ? 

A.  My  sympathies  decrease  for  this  world  as  a  world,  but 
they  increase  for  intelligent  beings  wherever  found.  In  ap- 
proaching the  earth  to  communicate,  and  taking  on  tempo- 
rarily its  sympathies,  tendencies,  and  memories,  I  indulge 
often  in  playful  remarks  and  parables,  seeking  the  better  to 
convey  useful  lessons.  .  .  .  Personally,  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  construction  of  the  building  that  I  have  described  to 
you,  though  I  have  tried  in  some  respects  to  improve  and 
beautify  it.  It  was  prepared  for  me  by  others,  and  I  consid- 
ered myself  more  than  fortunate  in  being  permitted  to  inhabit 
it.  ...  I  knew  nothing  of  spiritualism  when  living  in  my 
mortal  body,  and  I  gave  very  little  study  to  spirit*^ ,    o.atters. 

A  Spirit  Message,  with  Answers  to  Questions,  through  tfit, 
Mediumship  of  W.  H.  Fletcher,  London. 

I  stand  upon  the  present  occasion  as  a  medium  between 
other  spirits  and  my  medium,  something  as  he  is  a  medium 
between  you  and  myself. 

In  passing  away  from  the  world  of  matter  into  the  world 
of  spirit,  definite  experiences  come  to  different  individuals. 
Hence,  what  may  be  true  of  one  may  not  be  true  of  another. 
There  comes  into  my  presence  just  now  a  child  —  Stella. 
She  has  been  in  the  spirit  world  several  years,  and  the  first 
thing  she  saw  when  awaking  to  consciousness,  was  the  friends 
bending  over  the  cold  casket  that  she  had  left.  Their  tears 
fell  upon  it  like  rain.  She  spoke  to  them,  calling  them  by 
familiar  names,  but  they  heard  not.  Loving  spirits  and  wait- 
ing angels,  spiritually  clothed  her  risen  form.  Tliough  her 
body  had  been  buried,  the  great  grief  of  father,  mother,  and 
friends  held  her  by  the  law  of  sympathy  within  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  old  home  conditions.  You  of  earth,  not  under- 
standing this  subject  as  you  should,  cause  spirit  friends  sor- 
row and  trouble.     Gradually  becoming  able  to  assume  control 


192  IMMORTALITY. 

of  a  medium,  she  taught  them  to  think  of  her  not  as  a  lost 
child  to  them,  but  as  one  waiting  for  their  coming  to  the  bet- 
ter world  of  light  and  love.  The  moment  that  they  were  en- 
abled to  look  upon  death  as  a  friend  rather  than  an  enemy, 
becoming  calm  and  trusting,  that  moment  they  made  it  pos- 
sible for  her  to  enter  more  fully  into  the  spiritual  world. 
The  first  objects  of  interest  to  her  from  this  time  were  such 
spirits  as  could  adapt  themselves  to  her  and  childhood  teach- 
ings. 

Here  comes  another  spirit,  who  died  in  the  full  strength  of 
manhood;  and  things  look  so  natural,  and  seem  so  tangible, 
that  he  cannot  fully  realize  the  change.  He  goes  out  into  the 
very  business  life  to  which  his  strength  had  been  given,  and 
continues  to  be  interested  in  the  pursuits  of  human  existence. 
^(^.  was  not  a  really  wicked  man,  but  one  of  a  class  that  makes 
.V.  Tjld  neither  much  worse  nor  better  for  having  lived  in 
it.  Like  others,  he  had  eaten  and  drank.  He  had  lived, 
moved,  and  revolved  round  the  center  of  self.  He  knew  little 
of  fortune  or  misfortune,  only  so  far  as  they  affected  himself 
or  family.  Now  he  is  in  our  world,  and  yet  he  hardly  realizes 
it.  He  largely  draws  his  life  from  those  about  him,  and  might, 
were  he  to  control  a  medium,  vampire-like  absorb  the  medium's 
strength,  and  strenuously  contend  that  he  was  not  dead.  To 
as  his  condition  seems  deplorable.  It  is  the  self-satisfaction 
of  ignorance.  Fiery  trials,  disappointments,  and  penances, 
await  him.  Only  these,  it  seems  to  us,  can  arouse  him  to  a 
sense  of  his  true  condition,  and  the  heights  that  await  the 
true  and  the  unselfishly  good  in  the  infinite  beyond. 

The  more  benevolent  and  spiritual  the  life  one  leads  upon 
earth,  the  more  joyous  and  complete  will  be  the  awakening  in 
the  spirit  world.  The  time  will  come  when  individuals  will 
consider  it  a  privilege,  rather  than  a  misfortune,  to  suffer, 
simply  because  there  are  certain  experiences  that  must  be 
passed  through.  And  the  more  one  struggles  against  tempta- 
tion and  overcomes  the  lower  nature  here,  the  better  will  he 
be  prepared  for  the  life  hereafter.  .  .  . 

Spirits,  as  you  well  know,  meet  by  the  law  of  affinity,  and 


MANY  VOICES  FROM  THE   SPIRIT  LAND.  198 

move  in  groups  or  divisions.  Minds  engaged  in  the  same  pur- 
suits naturally  gravitate  to  the  same  condition;  and  our  homes, 
instead  of  being  built  as  you  build  yours,  are  constructed  to 
meet  the  desires  of  those  who  inhabit  them.  Those  having 
no  desire  for  food  or  shelter,  and  no  especial  wish  for  a  located 
home,  wander  on  through  this  spiritual  world  of  wondrous 
beauty,  enjoying  it  much  as  you  would  enjoy  an  Italian  sun- 
set. Spirits  are  more  inclined  to  live  and  move  in  groups, 
clusters  and  societies,  than  mortals.  This  does  not  apply, 
however,  to  those  who  have  just  left  their  bodies.  The 
groups  and  societies  that  I  previously  referred  to,  dwell  or 
exist  out  of  and  beyond  the  atmosphere  of  your  earth. 
Though  the  spirit  world  may,  the  spiritual  world  does  not 
begin,  until  the  earthly  life  is  nearly  lost  sight  of.  .  .  . 

The  embryo  infant  is  immortal  from  the  moment  of  concep- 
tion, and  hence  it  is  a  fearful  vice  to  blast  and  force  the  bud 
from  the  tree  of  life.  Every  child  should  be  a  welcome  child, 
and,  passing  through  the  diverse  experiences  of  infancy, 
youth,  and  manhood,  should  reach  a  good  old  age.  .  .  . 

It  is  not  true,  as  a  class  of  Theosophists  teach,  that  it  is 
possible  for  a  human  soul  to  perish  through  inherent  deprav- 
ity. But  it  sometimes  transpires  that  a  human  personality 
in  descending  into  and  assuming  earth  garments,  becomes 
divided  in  a  manner  analogous  to  the  separation  of  a  ray  of 
light  through  the  agency  of  the  prism,  and  these  divided 
portions  converge  and  blend  in  the  origiiT""  personality  again 
after  certain  special  missions  have  been  accomplished.  .  .  . 

In  the  spirit  world,  spirit  guides  do  not  necessarily  bear  am 
relation  to  the  mediums  they  controlled  upon  earth.  Thert 
should  be  a  distinction  made  between  spirit  guardians  and 
spirit  guides.  All  mortals  have  their  guardian  angels,  but  all 
do  not  have  spirit  guides  helping  them  in  the  performanoe  ol 
a  special  work.  Where  there  is  great  love,  however,  between 
the  guides  and  the  medium,  where  both  have  suffered  much, 
Doth  growing  mutually  strong  in  sympathy  and  faith,  then  the 
spirit  guide  becomes  the  teacher  of  the  medium,  when  the 
latter  is  clothed  upon  with  immortality. 
13 


IS*  IMMORTALITY. 

Written  through  Mrs.  L.  31.  K.,  of  San  Francisco,   California, 
hy  her  Sister  Eliza. 

When  I  passed  to  spirit  life  1  entered  the  fourth  degree  of 
happiness.  Each  degree  is  divided  into  what  may  be  denomi- 
nated fifteen  compartments.  I  was  too  young,  of  course,  to 
have  known  sin ;  but  I  was  alao  too  young  to  have 
advanced  in  spiritual  progression.  I  am  now  in  th« 
fifth  degree,  and  hope  very  soon  to  enter  the  sixth  with  m) 
mother.  We  have  our  homes,  our  houses,  our  fruit,  birds, 
flowers,  plants,  trees,  every  thing  that  you  have  on  earth,  ana 
as  tangible  to  us  as  material  things  are  to  you.  There  is  no 
sorrow  in  our  home.  Ht  is  only  when  we  approach  and  wit- 
ness the  sorrow  and  suffering  of  earth's  inhabitants,  that  we 
are  unhappy.  )  I  am  sometimes  sent  on  missions  of  love  to 
earthly  homes,  and  frequently  the  conditions  are  such  that  I 
cannot  come  into  rapport  with  them  and  be  able  to  bring  back 
reports.  I  have  for  days  followed  a  train  of  cars  or  a  ship 
when  desiring  to  convey  ideas  to  those  I  loved,  yet  could 
not  approach  them,  although  I  was  positive  they  were  on 
board.  Every  time  we  are  permitted  to  make  ourselves 
known  we  are  greatly  advanced.  If  I  were  to  describe  homes 
made  of  the  most  beautiful  flowers,  studded  with  precious 
gems,  with  streams  of  water  rippling  over  a  bed  of  diamonds 
and  pearls,  gardens  containing  every  variety  of  luscious  fruits, 
it  might  seem  ui,  "al  to  you  ;  but  no,  dear  brother,  we  should 
then  fall  far  short  of  a  true  description  of  the  beauty  and 
grandeur  which  surrounds  us  in  our  spirit  home  —  that  home 
not  made  with  hands,  but  by  the  pure  thoughts  and  good 
actions  expressed  in  the  earthly  life.  Eliza. 

December  2B,  1878. 

Description  of  Mrs.  Colonel  Taylor  s  Spirit  Home  :  through  the 
Mediumship  of  Colonel  Taylor,  ex-Member  of  Congress,  re- 
siding formerly  in  Alabama. 

It  is  a  lovely  home,  just  my  ideal  when  I  entered  it;  but 
now  1  have  a  higher  ideal  stretching  away  into  the  golden 


MANY    VOICES   FROM   THE   SPTRIT   LAND.  195 

distance.  The  building  is  constructed  of  a  variety  of  mate- 
rials, and  covered  with  the  beautiful  arbor- vitse.  On  every 
side  flowers  of  richest  hues  bloom  perpetualh'.  The  floors 
are  of  sandal-wood ;  the  windows  are  of  jasper,  and  they 
blaze  like  diamonds.  The  furniture  consists  chiefly  of  center- 
table,  mirrors,  bureaus,  chairs,  ottomans,  sofas — everything 
that  can  add  to  beauty  and  comfort.  The  diet  is  melons, 
nuts,  fruits,  and  heavenly  manna.  Very  exalted  spirits,  so  I 
am  told,  subsist  upon  angels'  food,  and  inhale  the  very  elixir 
of  life.  Not  only  do  our  flowers,  but  our  birds,  infinitely 
surpass  those  of  earth  in  plumage  and  song.  They  fill  wood 
and  plain,  grove  and  glen,  with  delicious  music.  They  are 
i^ery  tame,  too,  allowing  me  to  handle  and  caress  them.  The 
rivers  abound  in  water-falls,  and  the  crystal  streams  swarm 
with  fish  of  every  hue  and  size.  The  forests  abound  in  ani- 
mals, but  they  are  tame  and  harmless.  No  artist  can  paint 
nor  pen  do  justice  to  the  glories  of  the  spirit  world.  My 
mission  has  thus  far  been,  and  for  the  time  to  come  will  be  to 
those  I  love  upon  earth.  I  await  with  the  tenderest  anxiety 
their  arrival  to  the  home  that  I  am  preparing  for  them. 

John  Knowles'  Description  of  his  Spirit  Home  and  Spirit  Life : 
through  the  Mediumship  of  Thomas  Walker. 

On  earth  I  was  a  traveling  lecturer,  my  field  of  labors  being 
in  England  and  Scotland.  My  themes  were  phrenology  and 
mental  philosophy.  I  have  been  in  the  world  of  spirits  about 
seven  years.  My  home  is  in  the  Valley  of  Joy,  near  Sunshine 
River,  that  empties  into  Angel  Lake.  It  is  environed  with 
trees,  bearing  the  most  delicious  kinds  of  ever  ripening  but 
never  decaying  fruit.  A  balmy  fragrance  is  exhaled  from  the 
branches,  while  among  them  disport  birds  of  richest  plumage. 
The  entrance  is  through  a  spacious  porch,  supported  by  pillars 
of  different  colors.  Passing  through  this  porch,  we  enter  into 
a  parlor,  the  walls  of  which  are  of  crystal.  The  ceiling  is 
dome-like,  and  the  floor  of  downy  softness,  with  mingled  col- 
ors of  red  and  orange.  The  walls  are  decorated  with  delicate 
drapery  and  flowers  somewhat  resembling  your  rosea 


196  IMMORTALITY. 

We  now  pass  on  to  the  art  gallery.  Upon  the  walls  of  this 
are  drawings,  paintings,  and  productions,  executed  in  spirit 
life,  and  the  work  is  so  perfect  that  they  stand  out  in  full 
relief  like  statues.  One  of  these  is  a  representation  of  the 
entrance  of  Jesus  into  the  sphere  of  Buddha.  Jesus  is  kneel- 
ing, while  Gautama  Buddha  crowns  him  with  a  wreath  of 
flowers,  indicating  the  fidelity  and  purity  of  his  life. 

On  these  walls  are  also  the  portraits  of  several  eminent 
characters  who  occupied  the  home  before  myself.  When  I 
leave  and  pass  to  a  higher  sphere,  my  portrait  will  be  added 
for  the  inspection  of  those  who  succeed  me.  The  globular 
center  that  so  magnificently  illumines  this  room  is  invisible  to 
the  visitor. 

Leaving  the  art  gallery,  and  passing  through  an  archway  to 
the  right,  we  enter  the  library  room,  where  are  such  books 
and  manuscripts  as  my  predecessors  and  myself  have  been 
able  to  collect.  In  the  ce[..er  of  the  library  is  a  fragrant  and 
musically-playing  fountain.  In  this  room  my  special  friends 
often  assemble  to  discuss  matters  of  interest  to  dwellers  in 
the  Valley  of  Joy.  Leaving  by  the  left,  we  enter  a  floral 
grotto.  It  is  beautifully  arranged,  and  designed  for  the  ladies 
of  the  valley.  This  grotto  overlooks  a  pait  of  Sun^jliine 
Valley.  .  .  .  Spirit  homes  are  as  much  objective  and  as  sub- 
stantially real  as  are  yours  to  you.  And  yet  were  we  to 
visit  your  residences  in  our  refined  spiritual  bodies,  they 
would  be  almost  invisible  and  wholly  intangible  to  us.  The 
construction  of  the  home  that  I  have  described  to  you  has 
been  a  gradual  work,  occupying  centuries  of  time  bc^fore  the 
coming  of  the  present  occupant.  I  was  drawn  to  it  by  the 
law  of  natural  fitness.  Special  homes  are  thus  appropriated 
and  used  as  long  as  the  adaptation  continues.  In  many  re- 
spects the  internal  arrangements  of  the  homes  that  stud  the 
Valley  of  Joy  are  like  well-regulated  ones  upon  earth,  only 
they  have  no  sleeping  apartments.  For  the  repose  of  a  half 
conscious  sleep,  when  needed .  our  inhabitants  pass  over  the 
river  to  the  land  of  dusk,  where  the  clear  and  steady  light,  from 
natural  causes,  is  shaded  down  into  a  dusky  twilight.     Speak- 


MANY   VOICES   FROM    THE   SPIRIT    LAND.  197 

ing  in  general  terms,  home  life  is  much  with  us  as  with  you, 
only  more  intense  in  its  enjoyments.  A  spirit  wife  and  two 
children  are  the  additional  inmates  of  the  one  j,ast  described. 
The  gardens  of  the  valley  require  but  very  little  attention, 
because  of  the  genial  atmosphere  and  the  refreshing  dows. 
Our  labors  are  voluntary,  being  labors  of  love  for  the  good  of 
others. 

My  Residence  and  that  of  Others  in  the  Spirit  World.    By  John 
Glover^  through  the  Mediumship  of  Mrs.  Conant. 

I  lived  in  Quincy,  Mass.,  but  now  reside  in  Vinga  Villa, 
Spring  Garden  City,  Spirit  World. 

The  villa  takes  its  name  from  the  numerous  quantity  of 
vines  surrounding  it.  There  is  nothing  exactly  like  it  in  all 
the  city.  It  was  constructed  by  an  English  hrrticulturist. 
and  was  his  dwelling-place  for  a  long  time  until  he  went 
higher.  Now,  by  some  strange  fatality,  it  has  fallen  to  me,  and 
I  assure  you  that  I  appreciate  it,  for  it  is  just  what  I  admire. 

I  to-day  visited  the  residence  of  your  late  friend  and  co- 
worker, Mr.  William  White.  He  has  just  become  domiciled 
there.  The  structure  is  of  a  material  that  would  correspond 
to  your  alabaster,  perfectly  pure,  perfectly  white.  It  is  very 
symmetrical  in  its  proportions ;  indeed,  a  perfect  symmetry 
exists  everywhere ;  but  it  is  very  plain,  very  unostentatious, 
yet  very  beautiful.  It  is  an  exemplification  of  his  earthly 
life  —  an  humble,  unostentatious,  harmonious,  beautiful,  pure 
life,  all  combined.  There  is  his  dwelling,  telling  just  what 
the  man  was  when  he  was  here.  There's  no  mistaking  it ; 
every  intelligent  spirit  knows  what  that  indicates  —  who 
dwells  there. 

I  have  recently  visited,  also,  the  dwelling-place  of  your 
late  friend  and  co-worker,  William  Berry.  That  is  a  more 
pretentious  dwelling,  larger,  and  of  finer  decorations.  We 
find  upon  it  all  the  various  devices  of  music,  and  of  the  art 
of  printing,  all  interwoven  with  what  corresponds  to  your 
precious  gems  here  in  this  life.  It  is  a  very  imposing  struc- 
ture, and  tells  what  the  man's  life  was  here  —  fitful,  ardent, 


198  IMMORTALITY. 

aspiring,  daring,  and  ready  to  put  his  shoulder  to  any  wheel 
that  the  Almighty  saw  fit  to  ask  hiin  to  put  his  shoulder  to. 
There  was  the  strength,  there  was  the  will  manifested  in  the 
decorations  of  gems ;  there  was  the  ardor  manifested  in  the 
color.  The  ground- work  of  the  building  is  of  light  blue  and 
white,  indicating  that  the  man  here  was  struggling  between 
purity  and  wisdom.  He  knew  better  than  he  always  did ; 
but,  surmounting  that,  in  the  gems  of  various  colors,  we  are 
told  that  he  overcame  many  temptations  and  achieved  many 
grand  spiritual  works.  On  one  side  of  the  building  is  a  beau- 
tiful orange  grove;  on  the  other  we  find  the  most  beautiful 
tropical  flowers  that  the  eye  ever  rested  upon.  In  the  rear 
of  the  building  are  fruits  and  flowers  and  grains,  all  beautiful 
and  useful.  He  was  a  man  of  large  utility  of  purpose,  as  is 
displayed  in  the  architecture  of  the  building,  in  the  laying 
out  of  his  grounds,  in  the  selection  of  his  trees,  his  flowers. 
These  things  all  tell  you  what  the  man  is  that  abides  in  that 
building ;  and  so  it  is  with  reference  to  all  the  dwellers  in  the 
spirit  life.  There  are,  fortunately,  no  outcasts,  no  homeless 
ones.  There  all  have  homes  adequate  to  their  needs,  and 
homes  just  such  as  they  have  earned  here  in  this  life,  and  you 
know  at  once  what  the  spiritual  characteristics  of  the  dweller 
in  the  building  are  by  looking  at  the  building. 

The  dwelling-place  of  Mozart  is  an  elaborate  architecture 
of  musical  instruments  and  notes.  All  the  various  notes  in 
the  grand  harmony  of  music  are  there  represented  and  elabo- 
rated upon.  Every  musical  instrument  known  upon  earth  is 
there  in  objective  realit}',  as  well  as  every  one  known  in  the 
spirit  world.  Who  dwells  there  you  need  not  ask.  A  musi- 
cian —  some  one  whose  soul  is  thoroughly  imbued  or  baptized 
with  music. 

Theodore  Parker  inhabits  a  villa  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city ; 
not  very  large,  but  very  beautiful.  There  you  will  see  grow- 
ing in  beauty  all  the  beautiful  flowers  that  delight  the  senses, 
and  beauMful  fruits ;  and  every  day  troops  of  happy  spirits 
go  out  there  to  hear  him  discourse  upon  some  subject,  or 
to  ask  him  to  elucidate  some  question,  or  to  hear  from  him 


MANY   VOICES   FROM  THE   SPIRIT  LAND.  199 

Bome  of  the  experiences  of  his  earth -life.  He  stands  out 
upon  his  vine-clad  balcony  with  uncovered  head,  and  dis- 
courses there  as  he  never  did  here ;  and  yet  you  would  know 
it  was  the  plain  Parker  of  your  Music  Hall.  You  could  not 
be  mistaken.  Indeed,  I  will  venture  to  assert  that  there  is 
not  a  single  one  of  his  friends  here  in  life,  who,  if  they  were 
taken  instantaneously  to  the  spirit  world  in  front  of  his  beau- 
tiful home,  would  not  recognize  it,  and  were  you  to  ask  them 
"  Who  do  you  suppose  lives  there  ?  "  they  would  say,  "  Theo- 
dore Parker." 

When  our  friend  and  brother  White  was  first  taken  there, 
he  didn't  know  who  dwelt  there ;  but  his  friends  said  to 
him,  "  Now  tell  us  who  you  suppose  would  inhabit  such  a 
little  hijou  as  that?"  "Well,"  he  says,  "I  don't  know  of 
anybody  but  Parker.     It  seems  to  me  he  would  like  it." 

You  will  find  this  spirit  world  is  a  real  world  —  the  real,  of 
whicli  this,  your  life,  is  but  a  shadow.  You  fancy  that  you 
are  dwelling  in  a  real  life  here,  but  the  truth  is  that  you  are 
here  in  the  shadow,  while  the  real  life  is  to  come  ;  and  instead 
of  that  life  being  a  ghostly  one,  and  made  up  of  conditions 
entirely  inimical  to  human  happiness,  it  is  one  that  ministers 
unto  the  happiness  of  the  soul  continually.  It  would  seem 
that  the  Infinite  had  taken  into  special  consideration  the 
needs  of  the  risen  soul,  and  had  given  each  one  just  what 
they  most  needed. 

Our  dear  friend  and  brother  White  said,  when  he  was  es- 
corted to  his  new  residence,  "  Oh,  it  is  beautiful ;  and  how 
well  God  knew  what  I  most  loved  —  plain,  but  beautiful  I 
beautiful !  "  And  there,  upon  the  steps,  he  knelt  in  prayer ; 
and  while  he  was  surrounded  by  listening  thousands,  he  sent 
out  a  soul-prayer  to  the  Author  of  all  our  blessings  such 
as  I  never  heard  before  and  never  expect  to  again,  because 
such  scenes  do  not  repeat  themselves. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  see  to  it  that  you  live  such  lives 
here  as  will  bring  you  satisfaction  in  the  hereafter.  I  have 
shown  you  one  side  of  the  picture.  There  is  another  side. 
I  have  seen  many  who  were  dissatisfied  with  their  surround-  . 


200  IMMORTALITii. 

ings,  and  yet  they  all  admit  that  they  are  —  they  are  jusl 
what  they  have  earned,  and  if  you  wish  for  happiness  in  the 
life  to  come,  be  honest,  just,  charitable,  and  Christ-like  in  the 
earthly  or  rudimentary  state  of  being. 

Message  from  Dr.   C.  H.  Burrows,  on  Spirit  Progression,  tc 
Rev.  F.  J.  Briggs,  through  the  Mediumship  of  Miss  Thayer. 

Wisdom  can  neither  be  bought  nor  sold,  but  must  be  earned 
if  it  is  possessed  at  all.  Without  that  requisite  no  spirit  can 
pass  beyond  the  sedimentary  sphere.  All  spheres,  all  states 
of  being  in  the  spirit  world,  exist  in  accordance  with  God's 
government,  in  accordance  with  eternal  and  necessary  laws; 
otherwise,  the  sedimentary  sphere  would  be  a  hell  and  a 
curse.  Those  eternal  laws  provide  that  all  pass  through  this 
intermediate  state,  this  sedimentary  sieve.  The  length  of  the 
sojourn  here  varies  with  different  persons  according  to  the 
life  they  have  lived  in  the  body,  according  to  the  attitude  of 
resistance  or  of  obedience  they  maintain  toward  the  disciplines 
which  wisdom-teachers  prescribe,  and  according  to  their  fit- 
ness, or  lack  of  it,  for  residence  in  the  nobler  brotherhoods  of 
superior  spheres. 

Those  who  ascend  to  the  sphere  of  knowledge  caixy  with 
them  a  will-power,  and  reflect  it  back  through  sympathy  to 
the  dwellers  in  the  sedimentar}^  sphere,  who  have  the  same 
properties  of  intelligence  and  possibiUties  of  progress  as  those 
who  have  advanced  to  the  more  exalted  societies.  In  this 
manner  the  sensitives  of  the  lower  become  receptive  of  the 
influence  of  the  higher  spheres,  and  in  this  manner  likewise 
they  become  inspired  with  the  desire  for  knowledge  which 
noble  aspiring  spirits  have  already  attained. 

On  entering  the  sphere  of  knowledge  the  spirit  experiences 
a  sensation  of  delight,  of  exaltation,  at  the  prospect  that  opens 
to  the  view.  All  below  was  growth  and  preparation  ;  here  is 
the  bud,  the  blossom,  the  fruition  of  knowledge,  with  still 
grander  prospect  of  golden  fruit  and  grain  upon  the  rising 
slopes  that  come  into  view.  All  creation  pulsates  with  life. 
All  things  display  an  upward  movement.     The  birthplace  of 


MANY   VOICES  FKOM  THE  SPIEIT   LAND.  201 

living  beings  is  as  much  in  the  spirit  world  as  upon  the  physi* 
cal  globe. 

In  the  sphere  of  knowledge  the  diamonds  of  intelligence 
are  polished  into  gems  of  worth  before  higher  attainments  can 
be  gained.  Here  is  submission  to  the  higher  laws  of  reason. 
"  No  vainglorying  or  self-triumph  are  admitted  to  these 
courts  "  is  written  over  the  doors  of  the  school-rooms  where 
the  wise  teachers  assemble.  When  true  humility  is  attained; 
when  the  simplicity  of  the  little  child  characterizes  the  stu- 
dent of  wisdom ;  when  obedience  to  the  higher  laws  of  pro- 
gress is  known,  then  a  new  door  is  opened,  and  the  immortal 
pilgrim  is  admitted  to  the  glories  of  a  new  celestial  scenery. 

Descinption  of  a  Spirit's  Home^  through  the  Mediumship  of  Mrs. 
Nannie   Watson^  Memphis^  Tenn. 

The  spirit  world  is  not  far  removed  from  the  natural  world. 
In  appearance  the  spirit  world  closely  resembles  the  physical 
world.  The  similarity  is  too  striking  for  you  to  believe.  The 
mind  views  spirit  in  the  sense  of  intangibility,  as  something 
like  misty  nothingness,  when  the  truth  is,  spirit  to  spiritual 
beings  is  tangible  and  real.  The  spirit  world,  as  we  terra  it, 
is  the  abode  of  undeveloped  spirits  —  those  who  have  not 
long  left  the  body,  and  those  who,  by  the  laws  of  spirit  life, 
have  not  arisen  to  higher  spheres  by  progression.  Here  they 
are  instructed  in  regard  to  higher  aims  and  spheres ;  here 
spirits  from  the  higher  spheres  come  to  talk  to  them  of  God's 
love,  and  make  them  feel  they  are  bound  to  him  by  that  elec- 
tric chain  which  holds  every  atom  of  God's  creation  together. 
Love  makes  this  chain  bright  always,  and  the  ages  of  eternity 
will  only  serve  to  increase  its  brightness.  The  spirit  world  is 
encircled  by  this  cliain,  and  spirits  who  are  not  developed 
above  the  transgressions  and  errors  committed  while  in  the 
body  could  never  feel  the  potencies  of  this  electric  influence 
were  they  not  directed  and  instructed  by  those  who,  with 
feelings  God-like,  come  to  them,  making  their  abode  brighter 
by  telling  them  of  their  union  with  God  and  holy  angels  by 
this  sympathetic  chain  of  love. 


202  IMMOETALITY. 

Springs  run  through  the  spirit  worid  in  sparkling  rivulets, 
muct  like  those  of  earth,  but  the  water  is  of  electric  bright- 
ness, which  comes  from  the  fountain,  God. 

Fruits  grow  here,  but  their  sweetness  and  delicious  flavor 
come  from  the  parent  tree,  God,  and  are  delicious  in  propor- 
tion as  the  soul  seeks  after  Him.  The  sun  shines,  making  the 
spirit  world  present  the  appearance  of  sparkling  aural  emana- 
tions from  bodies  surcharged  with  that  element.  This  bright- 
ness cannot  be  seen  b}'^  those  whose  souls  were  in  darkness,  as 
"  those  who  had  been  long  dead "  in  trespasses  and  sin. 
"  Eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not ;  ears  have  they,  but  they 
hear  not,"  for  God  was  not  in  all  their  thoughts  while  in  the 
body;  now  they  must  "work  out  their  salvation."  Spirits 
help  them  only  as  they  help  those  on  the  earth-plane.  We 
come  to  them,  teaching  them  as  we  teach  you.  They  receive 
our  instructions  as  you  often  do,  with  mistrust.  This  retards 
our  help,  but  we  labor  on ;  one  soul  is  worth  thousands  of 
worlds  like  this.  Ministers  often  say  this  without  feeling  the 
full  import  of  the  sentiment.  God  sends  us  to  gather  from 
the  four  corners  of  the  earth  those  His  love  created  and  re- 
deemed. 

My  spirit  home  is  in  what  we  term  the  fifth  sphere.  Here 
the  spirit  bodies  of  those  who  have  passed  through  the  first 
spheres  of  progression  live  when  not  engaged  on  errands  of 
mercy  to  lower  spheres,  teaching  the  duties  which  Christ 
came  to  teach  them.  Here  we  meet  in  council  to  delegate 
messengers  with  power  to  operate  in  matters  pertaining  to 
spiritual  development,  and  carrying  out  the  plans  of  God's 
ministration  of  government.  His  plans  are  executed  by  his 
ministering  angels.  They  come  to  us  from  higher  courts,  and 
send  us  to  those  lower  in  the  plan  of  God's  government.  It 
is  our  council  that  directs  mortals  in  spiritual  affairs.  Then 
those  below  us,  more  material  in  their  offices,  impress  in  tem- 
poral matters.  Here  the  spirit  is  more  developed,  and  the 
spiritual  life  is  more  perfect  than  in  lower  spheres.  Material 
resemblances  lose  their  influence,  and  more  of  God  is  seen, 
because  God  is  spirit,  and  cannot  be  seen  in  material  things. 


MANY  VOICES   FROM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  203 

Consequently  the  materialized  aspect  of  the  spirit  world  passes 
away,  and  love  and  wisdom,  which  belong  only  to  God,  fills 
the  realm.  Christ  presides  more  personally  here  than  in  the 
lower  spheres,  -where  he  is  known  as  their  material  sun. 

The  sphere  in  which  we  dwell  cannot  well  be  described  by 
a  comparison  with  material  things,  for  all  is  spiritual,  and 
"  God  in  Christ,"  God  in  the  angels,  and  God  in  the  heavenly 
intelligences,  is  the  glory  of  it.  This  is  all  I  can  tell  you. 
Much  more  than  this  you  cannot  comprehend  while  body 
and  spirit  are  united,  for  all  things  partake  of  the  nature  of 
earthly  things  when  spirit  looks  through  mortal  being.  Spirit 
is  spirit,  and  can  only  be  seen  with  the  internal  being,  and 
that  must  be  freed  from  material  surroundings  before  it  can 
see  God  in  all  His  power  and  goodness,  in  all  His  wisdom  and 
matchless  love. 

Mungo  Parks'  Home^  through  Thomas  Walker  of  England. 

Away  in  the  far-stretching  distance  from  your  earth  rolla 
Sunshine  River,  with  waters  blue  and  deep  and  musical.  The 
winding  course  is  not  uidike  the  Upper  Nile.  Along  the  way 
the  waters  occasionally  rush  down  sharp  declivities,  forming 
cataracts  of  gorgeous  beauty,  into  a  tranquil  lake-like  basin 
sijent  and  silvery.  Rocks,  overhanging  shrubbery,  and  evei 
blooming  flowers,  build  a  wall-like  gallery  around  this  slum- 
bering deep.  Then  on  again  roll  these  singing  waters  till 
Ihey  are  lost  in  Angel  Lake.  On  the  right-hand  bank  of  this 
river,  fringed  by  graceful  palm-trees,  are  distant  mountains, 
from  the  summits  of  which  I  see  the  face  of  the  never-setting 
sun.  On  the  right  are  flowering  shrubs  that  bear  perfume, 
yield  precious  fruit,  and  gracefully  wave  to  the  passing  breeze. 
On  the  left,  by  a  statue  of  Bruno  in  solid  light,  is  a  shady 
grove,  and  musical  instruments  w^hich  breathe  forth  the  most 
ravishing  strains  of  melody.  Here  is  situated  my  home.  Ita 
walls  are  translucent,  and  supported  by  pillars  of  flowers,  each 
of  which  represents  a  friend.  The  roof  is  an  interblending  of 
the  several  colors,  and  the  dome  is  clear  as  crystal.  The  door* 
ways  —  as  you  would  call  them  —  are  arches  built  in  repre- 


204  mMORTALlTY. 

Bentations  of  tropical  fruits.  Over  one  of  these  is  the  motto, 
"  Life  begets  life,  and  love  begets  love."  On  another,  '*  All 
that  we  see  is  evanescent,  mind  alone  eternal!"  Over  an 
Oriental-looking  porch-way  jets  of  rippling  water  play  a  tune 
of  the  softest  music.  Of  this  mortals  can  form  but  little  con- 
ception. Across  Sunshine  River  may  be  witnessed  the  phe- 
nomenon of  dusk.  Here  are  fountains  of  mellowed  light,  self- 
luminous  vegetation,  and  hazy,  golden-like  skies  —  this  the 
sphere  of  rest  and  calm  repose.  We  would  like  to  say  more, 
but  the  condition  of  the  medium  will  not  permit.  My  habi- 
tation is  known  as  Myrtle  Home,  on  Sunshine  River,  in  the 
Morning  Land.  .  .  .  Believe  me,  pilgrim  of  earth,  that  your 
journeyings  over  the  sea  of  worldly  life  will  be  strewn  with 
thorns  of  opposition,  trouble,  and  danger,  while  your  sides 
will  often  be  pierced  with  the  sword  of  jealousy,  prejudice, 
and  hate ;  but  trust  in  God  and  His  ministering  angels,  and, 
believe  me,  our  smiles  shall  encourage  you,  and  our  hands 
shall  bear  you  up,  "  lest  at  any  time  thou  shalt  dash  thy  feet 
against  a  stone."     I  must  now  away  to  other  duties. 

Br.  Beechers  Home  and  Experiences  after  his  Transition  into 
Spirit  Life^  through  the  Mediumship  of  Mrs.  Nettie  0. 
Maynard^  Springfield^    Ohio. 

It  is  no  longer  disputed  by  those  well  informed  that  Pres- 
ident Lincoln  had  premonitions,  dreamed  prophetic  dreams, 
and  sought  the  counsels  of  spirits  during  the  closing  years  of 
the  rebellion.     Briefly  stated,  he  became  a  Spiritualist. 

And  while  Dr.  J.  B.  Conklin  was  often  consulted  b}'-  him, — 
a  gentleman,  now  of  Philadelphia,  accompanying  him  upon 
his  first  visit  to  the  Presidential  mansion, — still  it  is  well 
known  in  Washington  society  that  Mrs.  Maynard  was  the 
chosen  medium  of  our  most  honored,  yet  martyred  President. 

As  the  war  dragged  slowly  on,  stout  hearts  alternately 
hoping,  fearing  —  the  risen  fathers  of  the  Republic,  through 
this  lady's  entranced  organism,  entreated — pleaded  of  Mr. 
Lincoln   to   issue   a   proclamation  of  emancipation.    This  he 


MANY  VOICES    FROM  THE   SPmiT   LAND.  205 

bravely  did,  breaking  with  a  few  firm  strokes  of  the  pen 
millions  of  chains  and  shackles. 

A  full  history  of  this  matter  —  soon  to  be  published,  so  I 
understand  —  will  show  that  Mrs.  Maynard  was  frequently 
invited  to  the  President's  residence  during  the  closing  months 
of  our  late  civil  war,  that  he  might  receive  counsel  from  a 
sympathizing  and  supervising  congress  of  spirits. 

Among  the  controlling  teachers  and  spirit  guides  of  Mrs. 
Maynard  is  Dr.  Beecher,  of  Barkhamsted,  Conn.  Here  follows 
a  brief  sketch  of  his  experiences  in  the  better  land  of  im- 
mortality. 

I  was  ill  but  a  few  days  —  dying  suddenly.  As  I  now 
look  back,  the  event  was  but  a  shock  —  a  momentary  loss  of 
consciousness.  I  could  hardly  believe  at  first  that  I  had  died, 
as  I  was  still  in  the  familiar  apartment.  Tliat  a  change  had 
come  over  me,  however,  was  certain  ;  and  yet  I  could  not 
seem  to  comprehend  it.  I  never  felt  more  alive ;  and  still  I 
could  not  seem  to  exactly  adjust  myself  to  the  new  conditions 
of  being.  When  mortals  come  into  the  earthly  life,  there  are 
those  expecting  them  —  those  who  have  made  preparations 
for  their  reception ;  so  with  the  higher  birth,  my  father  met 
me.  I  was  clothed ;  almost  immediately  my  wife  and  daughter 
approached  me.  Tiiis  for  the  moment  added  to  my  confusion. 
These  all  extended  hands  of  welcome,  but  I  could  not  readily 
speak.     Others,  whom  I  had  known  in  the  body,  came  to  me, 

awakening  memories  of  by-gone  years Casting  my 

ayes  towards  earthly  friends  weeping  over  the  mortal  remains 
that  I  had  left,  I  thought  I  would  make  myself  known  to 
them  that  they  might  understand  that  death  was  only  tran- 
sition—  the  new  and  the  better  birth;  but  I  could  neither 
make  them  see  nor  hear  me.  It  was  a  sad  disappointment. 
I  v-'as  thoroughly  myself  —  an  individual  man  with  conscious- 
ness, reason,  and  memory  of  worldly  experiences 

After  a  little  time,  accompanied  by  m}'  father,  I  moved  out 
of  the  room  and  off  through  the  atmosphere,  which  seemed 
as  naturally  adapted  to  me  as  are  purling  waters  to  finny 
tribes.     At  first  my  father  was  my  teacher  ;  but  soon,  in  bar* 


206  IMMORTALITY. 

mony  with  the  law  of  adaptation,  my  father  brought  to  me  a 
spirit  guide  far  in  advance  of  me.  His  presence  ivas  com- 
manding, and  his  lessons  divine.  I  looked  up  to  him  with 
reverence,  and  his  teachings  thrilled  me  with  ecstasy.  His 
interesting  instructions  relative  to  atmospheres,  impalpable 
auras,  and  the  interlacing  belts  that  enzone  planetary  worlds, 
were  too  far-reaching  for  my  comprehension.  Stars  like 
mortal  man  are  born  —  have  their  youthful  time  ;  then  old 
age  —  their  death.  The  earth  that  3'^ou  loft  so  recently  is  be- 
coming more  etherealized  during  each  revolution,  ultimately 
it  will  not  be  seen  by  the  more  materialized  dwellers  of  other 
planets  and  worlds.  Stars  said  to  have  vanished  from  3'our 
stellar  heavens,  have  only  become  too  ethereal,  too  sublimated 
for  the  eye  to  behold.  .  .  .  Strange  things  did  I  hear.  Over 
earthly  cities  are  spiritual  cities,  and  yet  the  great  multitude 
of  spirits  are  not  in  one  place,  but  many  places  corresponding 
•to  spheres  and  states.  They  are  divided  by  purposes,  lan- 
guages, dress,  and  tribal  prejudices  ;  but  gradually  approach 
through  effort,  reconciliations,  and  the  law  of  progress.  .  .  . 
Mortals  entering  spirit  life  are  but  little  more  than  children. 
When  I  became  exhausted  or  weary  I  was  conducted  to  the 
temple  of  repose  —  a  peculiarly  constructed  temple,  fresh 
and  full  of  magnetic  life.  The  flowers  and  balsam-like  trees 
around  it  seemed  to  shed  a  healing  strengthening  balm. 
After  these  resting  seasons  I  was  generally  invited  to  the 
temple  of  prayer,  where  everything  seemed  rapt  and  softened 

by  the  spirit  of  devotion At  times  I  visited  schools  of 

art,  of  music,  of  mechanical  inventions,  and  of  medicine,  the 
latter  interesting  me  intensely.  These  various  schools  of  mind 
often  exchange  ideas,  and  when  they  make  a  discovery  or 
perfect  something  they  send  missionaries  to  report  to  other 
circles  of  spirits.  And  further,  spirits  are  selected  to  seek 
out  corresponding  minds  upon  earth,  that  can  readily  receive 
the  discovery  by  impression.  They  are  also  helped  to  utilize 
it.  Such  receptive  minds  need  not  necessarily  be  known  as 
mediums.  The  man  you  call  Edison  is  the  best  medium  for 
a  given  purpose  on  your  earth A  delegate  goes  fre- 


MANY   VOICES   FROM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  207 

quently  from  our  circle  to  all  countries,  and  to  many  of  the 
circle-spheres  in  spirit  life.  He  delights  in  being  a  sort  of  a 
traveling  messenger.  He  assures  us  that  there  are  people  on 
the  islands  of  the  open  Polar  sea.  .  .  . 

I  had  not  been  long  in  this  world  of  spirits  before  I  was 
taken  to  the  temple  of  self-examination,  and  left  alone.  The 
silence  was  almost  painful.  My  memory  seemed  unaccount- 
ably vivid.  My  earthly  life  passed  before  me  like  a  panorama. 
I  seemed  to  see  everything,  especially  myself.  My  very  being 
was  as  glass.  Not  only  my  acts,  but  my  motives  seemed  to 
rise  up  before  me.  It  was  the  judgment  I  and  yet  a  judgment 
tempered  with  mercy.  For  while  bewailing  the  past,  my 
guide  came,  bidding  me  look,  not  upon  the  past,  but  to 
press  upward  and  on  in  the  golden  future  ;  and  assuring  me 
that  I  was  to  pursue  the  study  of  medicine  and  moral  philos- 
ophy. I  was  then  taken  to  the  temple  of  consecration,  set 
apart  to  do  my  work,  and  told  that  I  should  endeavor  to  find 
a  medium  to  control ;  which  I  did  in  the  person  of  Mrs.  Ham- 
ilton, known  as  a  clairvoyant.  For  a  time  I  was  her  attend- 
ing guide. 

You  ask  about  my  house,  and  desire  me  to  go  more  into 
detail. 

I  will  try.  Yes,  I  have  a  house,  and  it  is  as  real  and  tan- 
gible to  me  as  your  costliest  palaces  are  to  you.  It  has  doors, 
windows,  apartments,  paintings,  musical  instruments,  and  a 
library.  My  favorite  room  is  a  bower  of  flowers.  I  often 
entertain  my  friends ;  we  have  repasts,  we  converse,  not  upon 
the  follies  and  fashions  of  earth;  but  generally  life,  laws, 
principles,  duties,  and  the  destinies  of  souls.  Around  my 
house  are  ornamental  trees,  and  plants,  the  medical  properties 
of  which  I  delight  to  studj-.  It  was  made  for  me.  There  are 
builders  and  gardeners  with  us,  just  the  same  as  there  are 
writers,  thinkers,  poets,  and  philosophers.  The  construction 
of  homes  in  the  spirit  world  of  which  I  am  an  inhabitant  does 
not  require  so  much  muscular  effort  as  it  does  desire  and  will. 
All  buildings  exist  first  in  the  brain  of  the  architects.  The 
gpiritual  is  the  real.      What  you  would  cnll  material  realities 


208  IMMORTALTTT. 

we  should  consider  as  shadows.  .  .  .  lu  the  heavenly  realms 
I  t.m  told  that  everything  is  divinely  beautiful  and  ethereal. 
The  blessed  there  feast  upon  spiritual  essences,  and  quaff 
nectar  from  fountains  of  immortal  love.  It  is  the  qualities 
and  vital  forces  of  foods  that  sustain,  and  not  Itulky  crudities. 
.  .  ,  There  are  gondolas,  palanquins,  carriages,  and  chariots 
in  my  sphere  of  existence.  Some  would  go  from  this  place 
to  London  in  half  an  hour.  Others  would  go  almost  like  the 
lightning's  flash.  .  .  . 

In  :be  first  stratum  of  the  spirit  spheres  enzoning  your 
earth  there  are  animals,  insects,  and  birds.  Often  have  I 
seen  children  playing  with  them.  They  do  this  till  their 
desu'es  and  tastes  are  transferred  to  liigher  objects. 

You  inquire  if  I  have  seen  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

I  have  not,  to  my  knowledge.  My  mind  has  not  been 
especially  turned  in  that  direction.  None  in  our  world  of 
spiritual  activities,  so  far  as  I  have  ever  heard,  deny  his  ex- 
istence. He  is  spoken  of  with  reverence,  and  is  admitted  to 
be  fai  above  us.  He  was  the  most  perfect  reformer,  the  most 
unselfish  teacher,  and  the  l>est  attuned  instrument  of  God  and 
angels,  that  your  world  has  known.  It  is  he  that  keeps  the 
Clirist  idea  so  alive  in  the  hearts  of  millions.  In  our  temples 
of  worship  is  seen  the  picture  of  Jesus,  denominated  by  one 
of  old  —  "  the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory."  I  get  these 
conceptions,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  so  exalted  and  divine,  from 
the  sphere  of  wisdom. 

Our  religious  temples  are  the  homes  of  aspiration  and  pro- 
found gratitude  to  God  the  giver  of  life.  When  entering 
their  flower-wreathed  gates,  the  delicate  lily-like  flowers  seem 
to  sway,  and  drop  tremulous  tones  of  melody.  Our  mediums. 
or  sensitives,  occupy  the  centers  of  these  temples  upon  great 
occasions  ;  for  often  the  saintly  souls  of  ancient  times  come 
into  these  temples  as  heavenly  teachers,  leading  and  lifting 
our  minds  into  the  diviner  calms  of  holy  love. 

Through  the  writing  mediumship  of  Mrs.  Maynard,  the 
following  communications,  bearing  directly  upon  the  nature 


MANY  VOICES  FROM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  20^ 

of  spirit  life,  were  given  to  Mr.  S.  R.  Fanshaw,  a  well-known 
artist  of  New  York,  and  long  a  member  of  the  National 
Academy  of  Design.  The  messages  were  from  his  wife,  a 
sweet,  pure-minded  woman  who  walked  the  earth  almost  an 
angel.  For  want  of  room  I  can  only  give  an  outline  of  her 
beautiful  descriptions. 

My  first  clear  recollection,  after  looking  with  mortal  eyes 
upon  the  anxious  faces  of  my  dear  husband  and  children, 
was  of  being  borne  upward,  listening  to  the  most  heavenly 
music  of  welcome.  ...  As  the  last  words  of  the  soug  died 
away,  I  was  tenderly  laid  upon  a  soft  downy  couch  of  beauti- 
ful flowers  in  a  pure  white  temple,  which,  I  have  sinct 
learned,  is  here  called  the  "  Temple  of  Repose."  I  only  wish, 
dear  ones,  that  I  had  the  power  to  describe  the  marvelous 
beauty  of  that  place.  ...  I  awoke  to  find  myself  clasped  in 
the  arms  of  my  living  mother,  followed  by  our  own  precious 
child,  and  all  the  dear  ones  who  had  reached  the  heavenly 
home  before  me.     Oh,  the  joy  of  that  meeting  I  .  .  . 

After  a  little  a  beautiful  lady  clothed  in  white  came  to  our 
mother,  and  said,  "  All  is  ready,"  when  immediately  she  in- 
formed me  that  we  were  now  to  proceed  to  the  "  Temple  of 
Prayer."  Heavenly  music  fell  upon  us  like  a  holy  benedic- 
tion. We  moved  in  a  procession,  I  walking  with  our  noble, 
loving  son.  Oh,  how  my  soul  is  thrilled  with  joy  at  the  rec- 
ollection !  After  marching  on  through  gardens  and  groves 
and  flower-fringed  walls,  lovelier  than  any  of  earth,  we  paused 
before  the  arch  of  a  majestic  temple.  It  seemed  to  be  con- 
structed of  gorgeous  flowers  and  intertwining  lilies  of  snowy 
whiteness,  every  petal  of  which  sparkled  with  crystal  dew- 
drops  —  all  fitting  symbols  of  the  tears  of  joy  and  gratitude 
that  filled  my  soul. 

A  low  interlude  now  arose,  and  to  its  measured  rise  and 
fall  we  moved  in  at  the  open  portal,  and  formed  a  circle  about 
the  loveliest  altar  that  I  ever  beheld.  .  .  .  The  sign  of  the 
broken  cross,  decorated  with  intertwining  flowers,  was  crowned 
with  an  arch  on  which  I  saw  in  letters  of  almost  blinding 
brightness  these  words : 
14 


210  niMORTALITY. 

"  In  this  Life  there  is  no  Death." 

While  I  was  admiring  the  unspeakable  beauty  of  the  tem- 
ple, the  music  swelled  into  a  full  chorus,  and  multitudes  of 
voices,  chiming  in  perfect  harmony,  sang  a  sweet  hymn  oi 
praise.     From  several  stanzas  I  select  this : 

Oh,  our  Father,  give  the  blessing, 

While  we  consecrate  as  thine 
One  whose  joy  beyond  expressing 

Bows  her  soul  to  Thee,  Divine. 

As  the  last  lingering  echoes  died  away,  I  saw  a  saintly- 
looking  man  standing  before  the  altar,  and  as  we  all  of  one 
accord  knelt,  he  uttered  a  most  touching  and  tender  prayer. 
This  was  followed  by  music.  .  .  .  Then  I  passed  on  with  my 
accompanying  guide  to  the  open  archway  of  the  temple  of  con- 
secration, where  a  band  of  lovely  white-clad  females  met  me, 
and,  leading  the  way  in,  conducted  me  to  a  seat  seemingly 
formed  of  white  roses,  the  delicious  strength-imparting  fra- 
grance of  which  filled  the  surrounding  air.  The  ladies  then 
put  a  white  wreath  upon  my  head,  and  a  very  commanding 
spirit  ai)proached  me,  with  countenance  like  the  brightness  of 
the  sun,  and  whose  presence  seemed  to  fill  the  vast  temple 
with  a  holy  peace.  Instinctively  I  arose  and  knelt  before 
him.  He  gently  laid  his  white  hand  upon  my  head,  and  the 
feeling  of  blissful  rest  that  filled  my  spirit-depths  I  can  never 
describe.  I  have  since  learned  that  this  was  the  Temple  of 
Love.,  and  over  it  our  "  Elder  Brother  "  presides.  .  ,  . 

Situated  in  a  lovely  valley,  through  which  winds  a  pure 
purling  stream  of  water,  is  my  cottage  home.  In  the  dis- 
tance rise  lofty  mountains  crowned  with  rainbows ;  in  front 
there  is  a  beautiful  lawn  studded  with  flowers  of  every  hue  — 
trees,  vines,  and  fountains,  full  of  the  lessons  of  truth  and 
wisdom.  In  my  home  are  seats,  sofas,  couches  of  almost  every 
conceivable  shape,  and  ornaments  revealing  some  law  in  their 
arrangement,  speaking  of  some  duty  to  be  performed,  or  re- 
minding me  of  others  to  be  aided  in  consonance  with  the  great 
law  of  brotherhood. 


MANY  VOICES    FEOM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  211 

My  immediate  work  at  present  is  confined  to  labors  here  on 
earth,  darling,  with  you  and  the  dear  children.  ...  No  one 
resides  with  me  but  my  children,  as  each  of  our  relatives 
and  friends  have  their  own  homes.  One  of  our  rooms  is 
adapted  to  recuperation,  one  to  repose,  one  to  music,  one  to 
the  fine  arts,  and  another  to  mental  development.  We  meet 
for  the  interchange  of  thoughts,  ideas,  theories  of  life,  and  of 
matters  pertaining  to  our  duties.  Temples  of  learning  await 
us  on  every  side,  and  we  go  to  such  whenever  high  moral  de- 
sires prompt.  The  arts  and  sciences  here  taught  antedate 
those  on  earth.  .  .  .  The  different  members  of  our  family 
often  come  together.  We  call  them  l)y  the  law  of  will-force. 
By  a  similar  law  we  know  when  you  think  of  or  wish  to  hear 
from  us. 

The  foregoing  description  reminds  us  of  these  lines: 

"  Oh,  Heaven  is  nearer  than  mortals  think, 
When  they  look  with  a  trembling  dread 
At  the  misty  future  that  stretches  on 
From  the  quiet  home  of  the  dead. 


Ay,  veiy  near  seem  its  pearly  gates. 

And  sweetly  its  harpings  fall ; 
Till  the  soul  is  restless  to  soar  away, 

And  longs  for  the  angels'  call. 

The  eye  that  shuts  in  a  dying-hour 

Will  open  the  next  in  bliss ; 
The  welcome  will  sound  in  the  heavenly  world 

Ere  the  farewell  is  hushed  in  this." 

Voices  from  Benjamin  F.   Wade  and  Horace  Crreeley,  through 
the  Writing-Mediumship  of  Mrs.  Milton  Rathhurn^  New  York. 

Knowing  quite  intimately  these  two  distinguished  men,  es- 
pecially the  first-named,  often  attending  stances  with  him  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  I  propounded  to  them  a  series  of  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  new  and  higher  existence.  Here  follows 
the  gist  of  their  messages. 

"  I  have  a  home,  a  most  delightful  abode,  and  yet,  like 
many  others,  I  found  it  far  from  perfect;  for  my  earthly  life 
was  neither  all  love  nor  harmony.  The  bitterness  of  discord, 
and  the  strife  engendered  by  worldly  aims,  marred,  and  in  a 


212  IMMOETALITT. 

measure  disfigured,  my  spiritual  habitation  T  found  this 
home  ready  for  me  when  leaving  the  earthly  body.  The 
silent  work  of  construction  went  steadily  on  from  my  very 
youth  on  earth,  and  is  still  being  carried  forward,  each  act 
producing  a  corresponding  effect  upon  the  structure.  Mortals 
in  the  form  largely  build  their  eternal  homes.  According  to 
the  '  deeds  done  in  the  body,'  do  all  weary  pilgrims  find  their 
homes. 

"  This  residence  is  now  far  away  from  the  atmosphere  of 
your  earth,  and  is  both  real  and  substantial.  .  .  .  The  belt- 
like  spheres  mingled  and  intermingled  the  one  with  the  other, 
and  yet  to  spirit  inhabitants  they  are  localities  distinctly 
defined.  Each  sphere  differs  from  the  other.  They  have  their 
divisions,  their  names,  their  lands  and  waters,  their  fields 
and  forests,  their  educational  institutions,  and  their  social 
enjoyments. 

My  special  employment  at  present  is  to  aid  in  kindling  in 
the  minds  of  political  aspirants  a  keener  sense  of  honesty 
and  of  strict  integrity,  and  also  a  deeper  admiration  for  a 
government  based  upon  the  principles  of  moral  justice  and 
equality.  Naturally,  I  take  a  deep  interest  in  American  leg- 
islation, and  mean  to  do  something  in  shaping  its  future.  My 
sympathies  reach  down  and  out  to  every  race  and  clime,  and 
I  go  here  and  there  on  missions  of  love  and  good-will,  and 
bear  to  my  spirit  home  many  hard-earned  trophies.  ...  I  see 
no  immediate  and  alarming  crisis.  Progress  is  my  measured 
steps,  rather  than  lawless  leaps.  .  .  .  Accept  my  thanks  for 
helping  me  to  this  opportunity  of  momentarily  lifting  the 
veil  between  your  world  and  ours." 

Horace  Greeley  observes  that,  in  dying,  "  Just  as  my  outer 
consciousness  closed  in,  and  the  familiar  faces  and  objects 
faded  away,  my  spiritual  eyes  opened,  and  I  saw  through  the 
gates  ajar  in  the  land  that  seers  had  often  seen  and  described. 
I  shrink  from  the  attempt  to  fully  describe  the  surrounding 
scenery.  No  panorama  of  the  imagination  equals  it.  ...  I 
have  a  home,  lovely  and  grand  —  a  home  of  nature's  beauties, 
works  of  art,  and  gems  of  spirit  literature  —  a  located  and  a 


MANY  VOICES   FBOM   THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  213 

real  home  —  a  home  that  iDcieases  in  beauty  as  I  progress 
towards  eternal  light — a  home  of  which,  during  my  earthly 
life,  I  was  the  unconscious  architect  and  builder.  My  wrong- 
doing, and  the  missteps  of  my  mortal  life,  disfigured  and,  in  a 
degree,  tarnished  its  brightness.  Oh  that  the  inhabitants  of 
your  earth  could  understand  that  their  works  precede  them 
to  the  world  of  spirits !  .  .  .  I  am  now  seeking  to  finish  up 
the  work  I  commenced  on  earth.  It  was  far  from  completion 
when  I  left  the  body.  I  find  my  greatest  joy  now  in  assisting 
the  weak  and  oppressed,  and  in  impressing  mortals  to  engage 
in  works  of  philanthropy.  ...  I  would  give  worlds  to  more 
fully  return  and  make  amends  for  my  cowardly  indifference 
to  the  fact  of  spiritualism.  If  in  my  own  body  again,  as  I 
now  see  it,  I  would  proclaim  the  blessed  truth  of  angel  minis- 
try from  the  housetops.  I  had  it  in  my  power  to  accomplish 
easil}'-  what  now  becomes  exceedingly  difficult.  I  would  say 
to  all  in  the  form,  Do  not  be  ashamed  of  rational  religious 
spiritualism  !  March  valiantly  to  the  front,  and  face  the  ene- 
mies' fire.  Unfurl  the  banners  of  love  and  truth  that  the 
winds  of  heaven,  bearing  them  aloft,  may  show  the  world  the 
emblems  of  a  pure  and  free  religion  1  Fill  your  lives  so  full 
of  good  deeds,  so  full  of  true,  brave  words  spoken,  that  you 
can  look  back  from  spirit  life  to  earth  without  that  stinging 
remorse  that  I  at  times  have  felt  for  hiding  a  portion  of  the 
light  given  me." 

It  is  well  known  to  many  spiritualists,  that  the  Hon.  Benj. 
F.  Wade  was  in  early  life  a  materialist ;  but  through  the 
writing  mediumship  of  his  wife  he  was  converted  to  spiritual 
ism,  and  though  occupying  the  highest  political  position  in 
*he  gift  of  the  American  nation,  except  the  Presidency,  he 
never  shrank  from  the  expression  of  his  honest  convictions. 
After  Mr.  Wade's  transition,  his  personal  friend,  H.  E.  Par- 
sons,  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  by  request  of  a  near  neighbor,  asked 
Mr.  Wade,  soon  after  passing  into  spirit  life,  to  give  a  descrip- 
tion of  his  condition,  and  an  idea  of  the  location  of  the  spirit 
world.     Here  follows  his  answer  through  a  writing  medium. 

"  The  spirit  world,  or  sphere,  is  everywhere  around  you, 


214  IMMOBTALITY. 

and  is  only  separated  from  you  by  a  thin  veil  of  matter.  Yc  u 
are  in  it  now,  though  quite  unconscious  of  it.  Man  is  a 
spirit  in  a  physical  form ;  when  the  veil  of  matter  is  with- 
drawn, it  reveals  to  him  the  spiritual  world  in  which  he  was 
living  before.  He  does  not  go  to  any  remote  place,  neither  is 
he  immediately  changed.  He  sees  the  beings  who  are  around 
him,  and  they  are  just  as  near  him  before  the  veil  was  with- 
drawn as  they  are  now.  He  does  not  go  afar  among  stran- 
gers, finding  everything  new  and  wholly  different  from  what 
he  had  before  seen  and  known.  The  future  state  of  man, 
after  the  change  called  death,  is  similar  to  his  state  in  the 
earth  sphere.  He  has  a  similar  face,  speech,  appearance, 
mind,  and  external  life ;  hence  it  is,  that  he  knows  not  other- 
wise than  that  he  is  still  in  the  world,  unless  he  adverts  to 
those  things  which  present  themselves,  compelling  a  compar- 
ison of  the  two  states  of  existence,  or  hears  the  phrase,  'He's 
a  spirit  I '  What  the  vast  future  may  reveal,  I  know  not ;  but 
this  is  true,  one  life  is  continued  into  the  other,  and  death  is 
only  the  passage.  Say  to  my  dear  wife  not  to  trouble  herself 
so  much  about  earthly  matters,  for  they  are  in  the  keeping  of 
God.  I  will  soon  write  her  a  lengthy  message;  that  is,  if  I 
can  get  the  opportunity. 

"  Your  friend,  not  dead  but  living,  and  near  you." 


MANY  VOICES   PROM  THE  SPIRIT   LAND.  215 


A.  A,  Bailouts  Teachings,  through  the  Trance- Condition  of  Mrs. 
Cora  L.  V.  Richmond. 

Were  yoi.  unconscious  in  dying  ?  Who  first  met  you  in 
spirit  life  ?  How  were  you  clothed  ?  Can  spirits  pass  through 
closed  doors  and  heavy  walls  ?  Is  the  spiritual  body  in  the 
process  of  dying  disorganized  ?  Do  spirit  zones  envelop  the 
earth,  and  are  their  lines  of  demarkation  between  them  ?  Have 
you  a  residence  in  spirit  life,  and  if  so,  by  whom  constructed? 
What  of  animals  and  birds  in  the  spirit  world  ?  Do  you  con- 
sider God  a  personal  intelligence?  To  you,  what  is  the 
present  outlook  of  spiritualism  ? 

I  submitted  the  above  inquiries  to  the  controlling  intelli- 
gences of  Mrs.  Cora  L.  V.  Richmond.  They  were  promptly 
answered  by  the  spirit,  A.  A.  Ballou. 

I  experienced  no  unconsciousness ;  there  was  scarcely  a 
semblance  of  it.  On  the  contrary,  consciousness  became 
more  and  more  intensified ;  instead  of  sensation  being  dead- 
ened, every  avenue  of  sensation  was  quickened,  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  spirit  life  mingled  with  the  consciousness  of  a 
fading  earthly  life.  That  which  is  called  the  fading  away  of 
external  consciousness  is  merely  the  superseding  of  external 
consciousness  by  spiritual  consciousness.  There  are  spirits 
who  experience  what  may  be  termed  a  semi-consciousness,  aris- 
ing more  from  bewilderment  than  from  any  lack  of  activity  in 
the  mind ;  but  this  state  differs  with  each  individual  spirit. 
When  the  spirit  recedes  from  the  body,  it  is  becoming 
awakened  in  another  life.  The  period  of  rest  that  some 
minds  experience  is  caused  by  the  change  of  condition  from 
earthly  to  spirit  life,  and,  like  any  sudden  shock,  it  leaves  the 
mind  without  remembrance,  nothing  vivid,  and  the  spirit 
might  suppose  that  it  had  been  unconscious  during  that 
period 

I  was  met  by  one  whom  I  will  call  my  other  mother,  and 
by  my  immediate  personal  friends,  some  of  whom  were  rel- 
atives, some  were  not.  There  is  in  spirit  life,  and  even  on 
the  first  awakening  in  spirit  life,  a  consciousness  of  recogni- 


216  IMMOBTALITY. 

tion  of  those  whom  we  have  mentally  known.  I  mean  hy 
this,  those  whose  works  we  have  read  with  interest,  whose 
teachings  we  have  followed,  and  the  companions  of  our  sol- 
itude, whom  we  have  not  seen  in  form,  but  whose  minds  are 
one  with  ours.  These  meet  us  in  spirit  life  ;  and  I  found  my. 
self  received  by  those  with  whom  I  had  communed  only 
through  their  writings  or  works  on  earth 

My  clothing  was  drapery ;  I  was  conscious  of  that,  and  that 
it  did  not  take  the  stereotyped  form  of  earthly  raiment ;  but 
I  thought  little  of  it,  excepting  that  when  a  thought  of  de- 
light pervaded  the  mind  on  each  new  recognition  of  a  spirit 
friend,  there  would  be  a  vibration  throughout  the  whole 
frame  which  communicated  itself  to  the  drapery  and  to  the 
atmosphere  around  me.  That  our  friends  are  prepared  to  re- 
ceive us  in  spirit  life  is  certain ;  but  spirit  clothing,  that  which 
they  adorn  us  with,  that  which  is  seen  by  many  spirits  [clair- 
voyants] in  the  form  of  raiment,  is  in  reality  their  affections 
manifesting  themselves  upon  the  atmosphere  that  like  a  shin- 
ing light  surrounds  us ;  and  as  our  raiment  is  woven  not  of  ma- 
terial fabric,  but  of  the  aggregation  of  spiritual  substances,  so 
the  thought  and  sympathy  of  our  friends  adorn  us ;  we  wear 
it  as  shining  raiment ;  atmosphere  illumines  and  surrounds  us ; 
we  are  clothed  in  atmospheres.  .  .  . 

Spirits  can  and  do  pass  through  any  and  every  substance 
called  "  solid  substance  "  on  earth.  Organic  matter  has  no 
effect  upon  inorganic  spirit.  As  spirit  is  inorganic,  it  cannot 
be  disintegrated ;  and  as  spirit  essence,  or  form,  is  more  subtile 
than  any  solid  substance,  so  spirit  can  at  will  pass  into  and 
out  of  a  room  though  it  were  made  of  iron,  glass,  steel,  or  the 
most  solid  and  compact  substance.  Spirit  can  and  does  pass 
into  and  out  of  prisons,  caverns,  recesses  of  any  and  every 
kind.  There  is  no  impediment  in  matter  to  the  progress  of 
the  spirit.  The  only  impediment  existing  is  the  lack  of 
knowledge  or  volition.  A  spirit  may  be  prevented  from  pass- 
ing into  a  room  by  believing  that  it  cannot  do  so;  but  if  the 
spirit  has  the  knowledge  that  matter  is  not  an  obstruction, 
and  an  earnest  desire  to  be  in  the  presence  of  any  person,  it 


MANY  VOICES   FROM   THE   SPIRIT  IiA^D.  217 

finds  that  the  material  wall  is  no  obstacle,  and  that  the  desire 
or  will  is  stronger  than  any  organic  obstruction.  There  is  no 
atmospheric  or  other  resistance  to  the  progress  of  the  spirit 
through  space  and  matter. 

Perhaps  it  might  be  well  to  elaborate  this  still  further.  As 
sympathy  is  the  law  that  measurably  governs  spirit,  and  as 
every  force  employed  by  the  spirit  is  a  mental  force  acting  upon 
the  physical  if  a  physical  demonstration  is  required,  so  the 
relationship  of  a  disembodied  spirit  to  all  organic  or  embodied 
substances  is  the  relation  of  a  positive  power  to  negative 
power,  and  the  negative  is  not  in  any  sense  an  obstruction  or 
obstacle  to  the  passage  of  the  spirit  from  one  point  to  another. 
The  onl}'-  obstruction  is  when  a  spirit  wishes  to  control  mat- 
ter for  intelligent  conversation  with  embodied  minds;  resist- 
ance then  has  effect,  not  upon  the  spirit,  but  upon  the  mani- 
festation that  the  spirit  may  wish  to  make.  Spirit  being 
inorganic,  not  having  in  any  sense  generic  or  other  material 
conformation,  is  not  subject  to  disintegration.  There  is  no 
danger  of  its  dissolution ;  the  particles  flow  together  freely ; 
there  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  matter  that  can  dissever  the 
particles.  Therefore,  as  light  passes  through  a  transparent 
substance,  all  substances  are  transparent  to  the  passage  of 
spirit,  excepting  only  a  counter-volition.  A  spirit  may  be 
prevented  from  entering  a  room,  not  by  walls,  not  by  glass  or 
metals,  not  by  solid  substances  or  barred  doors,  but  by  the 
volition,  or  resistance,  or  unwillingness  or  uncongeniality,  of 
the  minds  of  those  present.  .  .  . 

The  spiritual  man  is  not  disorganized  or  disintegrated.  The 
body  experiences  disorganization,  and  death  is  the  emphatic 
signet  seal  of  that  dissolution.  The  spirit,  however,  remains. 
As  I  stated,  my  spirit  was  already  clothed.  I  experienced  an 
added  sensation  of  life,  but  no  dissolution  in  the  sense  of  spir- 
itual disintegration.  The  body  recedes ;  the  tide  is  at  ebb. 
The  spirit,  as  the  flood-tide  is  in  possession  of  all  that  it  has, 
retains  that,  takes  its  own  atmosphere  to  spirit  life,  and  is 
adorned  through  sympathy,  affection,  intelligence,  and  such 
other  mental  experiences  as  follow  immediately  after  death. 


218  IMMORTALITY. 

As  for  diissolutiou  or  disorganization  of  the  spirit  form  foi  the 
purpose  of  withdrawal  from  the  physical  body,  it  would  be 
just  as  sensible  to  say  that  a  man  is  disorganized  when  he 
takes  off  his  clothing  at  night.  The  one  important  point  for 
the  world  to  understand  is  that  every  spirit  exists  as  a  spirit, 
although  possessing  a  material  body ;  that  the  change  called 
death  does  not  create  either  the  spirit  or  the  spirit-form.  We 
can  well  understand  that  persons  witnessing  the  process  of 
dissolution  from  the  material  side  of  existence,  even  with  clair- 
voyant vision,  might  suppose  the  spirit-form  to  be  an  emana- 
tion ill  particles  from  the  physical  body.  Such  is  the  illusion 
incident  upon  inhabiting  the  material  form,  and  looking  even 
with  clairvoyant  vision  from  the  material  standpoint;  but 
such  is  not  the  case  from  the  spiritual  side.  The  difference  is 
like  the  difference  between  standing  beneath  the  clouds  and 
above  them.  .  .  . 

The  spiritual  spheres  do  not  surround  the  earth  in  the  sense 
sometimes  taught,  and  there  is  not  an  appreciable  line  of  de- 
markation  in  any  physical  or  other  sense  known  to  man  be- 
tween them.  A  spiritual  sphere  is  the  radius  oi-  atmosphere 
of  a  mental  condition,  of  a  spiritual  unfoldment.  In  the  same 
apartment  on  earth  the  celestial  and  terrestrial  spheres  — 
meaning  the  highest  and  lowest  spiritual  conditions  —  may 
both  be  found.  Sjjirits  representing  the  terrestrial  state  may 
hover  by  attraction  more  near  to  the  earth ;  but  there  is  no 
belt  or  layer  —  rather,  cloud-spots,  seen  from  the  other  side, 
accumulations  of  spirit  atmospheres  that  are  dense  in  certain 
localities,  and  that  change  their  locality  with  the  change  of 
interest  or  attraction.  These  blots,  or  patches,  communicate 
with  corresponding  spiritual  states  in  other  localities  than  the 
earth,  chiefly  other  planets ;  and  there  are  lines  of  darkness  cor- 
responding to  the  lines  of  light  that  connect  higher  or  angelic 
states  together.  Nor  are  these  lines  fixed ;  nor  do  they  al- 
ways occupy  the  same  point  in  space.  A  spiritual  sphere  is 
present  this  evening  in  correspondence  with  the  mind  or 
minds  controlling  these  utterances.  We  say,  this  is  the  sphere 
of  the  band  controlling  the  mediam.     Now,  this  is  not  fixed 


MANY  VOICEg  FROM  THE  SPrRIT   LAITIX  219 

we  are  not  obliged  to  be  here  unless  we  have  something  to 
do ;  and  our  sphere  may  pass  from  one  point  to  another  of  the 
earth  mthout  either  being  disturbed  as  a  sphere,  or  without 
leaving  any  especial  trace  or  mark  that  can  be  delineated 
physically. 

A  spiritual  sphere  is  the  radius  of  the  activity  of  the  minds 
composing  it ;  it  may  be  large  or  small,  potent  or  otherwise, 
according  to  unfoldmeut.  There  are,  so  far  as  we  can  learn, 
neither  arbitrary  boundaries,  limits  in  space,  nor  are  there 
arbitrary  numbers  to  the  spheres.  'Seven  spheres,  twelve' 
spheres,  any  harmonic  number  serves  as  a  representation  of 
the  stages  of  spiritual  growth ;  and  there  are  certain  stages 
that  are  better  denoted  by  these  numbers  than  others.  It  is, 
therefore,  customary  to  describe  spirit  spheres  in  numbers, 
the  better  for  the  understanding  of  earthly  minds  than  from 
any  arbitrary  or  fixed  number  in  spirit  life ;  but  as  there  are 
certain  cycles  that  only  numbers  can  represent,  spirits  do,  in 
describing  ultimate  states,  employ  numbers,  the  better  to 
designate  when  those  spirit  states  have  reached  their  calmi- 
nation.  But  spirit  spheres  extend  in  various  and  not  arbi- 
trary lines ;  are  rather  currents  from  the  earth  to  any  and 
every  planet  or  interstellar  point  in  space  where  the  spirits 
composing  that  sphere  may  have  work  to  perform. 

"  A  house  not  made  with  hands  eternal  in  the  heavens." 
This  quotation  best  describes  a  spirit  habitation.  Eternal 
means  that  thought  is  lasting ;  that  every  impression  or  vibra- 
tion of  the  mind  produces  an  effect  on  the  atmosphere  with 
which  the  spirit  is  associated;  that  locality  with  reference  to 
the  astronomical  or  atmospheric  condition  is  not  essential. 
The  house  or  home  of  the  spirit  must  be  essentially  composed 
of  the  substance  surrounding  the  spirit,  must  be  of  the  nature 
required  by  the  spirit,  and  must  be  in  the  locality  of  the  spir- 
it's usefulness  or  labor.  As  heat  and  cold,  winter  and  sum- 
mer, poverty  and  riches,  starvation  and  excess,  changes  of 
8very  physical  kind,  have  no  effect  upon  the  spirit;  as  the 
jpirit  does  not  require  to  be  protected  against  the  sun's  rays 
)r  the  wintry  frosts  and  tempests ;  so  our  habitations  are  coir 


220  IMMORTALITY. 

posed  of  just  such  substances,  and  are  in  just  such  localities 
as  our  spiritual  necessities  demand.  "Wliat  are  those  ?  Ac- 
tivity. The  mind  never  sleeps;  the  spirit  never  ceases  to 
act.  Therefore  we  are  not  in  need  of  a  fixed  habitation 
where  we  shall  lay  off  the  burdens  of  material  cares,  and 
rest  or  sleep,  as  mortals  do.  I  speak  only  for  myself.  Another 
of  our  spiritual  necessities  is  the  existence  and  presence  of 
those  for  whom  we  have  an  affection.  Our  habitations,  there- 
fore, are  largely  our  affections.  We  live  in  those  ;  they  form 
the  atmosphere  surrounding  us.  That  atmosphere  takes  shapea 
of  beauty,  of  variety,  of  light,  of  shade,  of  architectural  pro- 
portion, of  art,  of  color,  of  line,  of  form,  according  to  our 
affections ;  and  we  do  not  build  for  the  sake  of  building,  nor 
to  witness  as  a  spectacle  the  structure  that  we  have  reared. 
Whatever  there  is  of  edifice  or  picture,  of  art  or  landscape, 
in  the  atmosphere  of  our  home,  is  the  result  of  our  lives,  of 
our  endeavor,  of  the  action  and  thought  that  make  up  our 
existence. 

Our  home  is  now  here,  because  our  atmosphere  is  here,  and 
you  would  see  the  spiritual  atmosphere  of  this  habitation  per- 
vaded by  us  and  by  this  presence.  The  next  point  of  our 
labor  will  be  the  point  of  our  spiritual  habitation  then.  If  it 
shall  be  some  friend  on  earth,  there  will  be  our  home  for  the 
time  being;  if  it  is  some  spirit  sphere  that  we  must  visit, 
some  other  condition  of  spirit  life  to  endeavor  to  alleviate, 
then  wherever  we  find  that  spirit  there  will  be  the  home  for 
the  time  being.  There  is  no  conflict  of  location,  no  appro- 
priation of  others'  possessions.  Uncongenial  spheres  cannot 
meet  nor  blend ;  they  resist  each  other  and  separate ;  there  is 
no  occupation  of  one  another's  premises.  I  can  only  possess 
that  which  is  mine.  My  home  is  my  spiritual  labor,  my  con- 
sciousness, my  atmosphere,  my  surroundings ;  they  go  with 
me ;  they  do  not  remain  anywhere  when  I  am  absent ;  they 
are  my  possessions ;  they  abide  with  me  for  ever.  .  .  . 

Spirits  in  close  sympathy  with  earthly  life  cultivate  fields 
and  gardens.  Their  spirit  spheres,  their  habitations,  their 
occnpations,  are  prototypes  of  what  is  on  the  earth,  because 


MANY  VOICES  FEOM  THE  SPIRIT  LAITO.  221 

they  know  nothing  different.  They  still  perform  the  labor, 
still  exist  in  its  atmosphere,  are  absorbed  by  its  presence,  and 
possess  the  things  that  have  earthly  existence.  To  such  as 
these,  every  object  wears  the  form  of  earthly  life,  or  of  a  similar 
object  in  earthly  life,  and  the  habits  or  methods  of  earthly 
existence  are,  to  a  very  great  extent,  repeated  in  their  spiritual 
life ;  but,  as  I  state,  their  spirit  home  then  is  upon  the  earth. 

In  other  words,  to  bring  this  statement  within  a  compact 
and  comprehensive  form,  that  existence  called  objective  on 
earth  has  no  reality  in  spirit  life,  while  that  existence  called 
subjective  on  earth  is  the  objective  in  spirit.  Our  thoughts, 
our  affections,  our  memories,  our  aspirations,  our  prayers, 
these  are  the  objects  of  existence  in  spirit.  Houses  and  lands, 
gardens  and  flowers,  organic  life  in  every  variety,  become  the 
subjective  with  us.  We  have  them,  if  our  affections  require 
them ;  we  have  them  not,  if  our  thoughts  are  beyond,  or  en- 
gaged in  other  directions.  ... 

All  forms  of  animated  life  come  under  the  description  in 
the  answer  to  the  previous  question.  There  is  no  organic 
growth,  animal  or  vegetable  life,  in  high  spiritual  existence. 
By  organic,  I  mean  generic  physical  growth.  Every  form  of 
beauty,  every  bird,  tree,  flower,  landscape,  temple,  is  the  re- 
sult of  some  immediate  action  of  mind,  or  intelligence,  upon 
the  atmosphere  ;  and  upon  the  particles  composing  that  atmos- 
phere of  spirit  life  are  the  living  pictures  of  the  minds  in- 
habiting that  existence.  They  are  not  of  themselves  separate 
and  apart  from  human  entities,  as  birds  and  flowers  and  trees 
are  on  earth,  seeming  to  exist,  whether  man  ever  beholds 
them  or  not.  We  have  no  forests  unexplored,  no  birds  that 
sing  their  songs  and  waste  their  brightness,  on  an  atmosphere 
unseen  of  man.  Whatever  birds  are  messengers ;  whatever 
flowers  are  offerings  of  peace  or  deeds  of  love ;  whatever 
temples  are  consecrated  actions  to  liberty,  or  truth,  or  justice, 
or  religion ;  whatever  object  of  loveliness  is  the  expression  of 
some  thought,  born  in  the  affections  of  the  spirit  .... 

We  consider  God,  the  infinite  personality,  the  infinite  intel- 
ligence of  the  universe,  both  center  and  circumference,  that 


222  IMMOKTAUTT. 

which  is  within  and  without,  pervading  the  whole,  guiding 
the  whole,  possessing  the  whole,  awaro  of  the  whole,  the  in- 
finite personality.  Man's  personality  is  within,  is  within  that 
infinitude  ;  it  certainly  cannot  be  outside  of  it ;  but  the  man 
is  not  that  infinitude,  because  he  is  finite.  The  word  central 
cannot  apply  to  infinitude,  any  more  than  circumference. 
That  which  belongs  to  infinitude  is  the  whole ;  yet  I  would 
have  it  distinctly  understood  that  we  believe  in  the  infinite 
individuality.     The  fact  of   its  infinitude  does   not  detract 

from  the  individuality 

A  decided  change  from  prhenomena  to  spirit,  from  body  to 
substance,  Spiritualism  has  passed  its  second,  and  is  now  in 
its  third  stage  of  expression.  The  first,  and  second,  and  third 
were  simultaneously  manifested ;  but  the  first  and  second 
have  had  their  day  of  reigning ;  that  is,  the  wave  of  each  has 
reached  its  apex,  or  climax,  and  is  now  receding.  Spiritual- 
ism is  a  threefold  power  in  its  present  form,  and  will  always 
possess  the  threefold  attributes  of  appealing  to  the  external 
consciousness  of  man  by  tangible  expression,  of  appealing  to 
the  intellectual  consciousness  of  man  by  methods  of  reason 
and  induction,  of  appealing  to  the  spiritual  and  religious  con- 
sciousness of  man  by  individual  intuition  and  experiences  of 
spiritual  gifts.  The  manifestations  through  spiritual  gifts  to 
others,  constitute  the  first ;  the  intellectual  acceptance  of 
philosophy  and  phenomena,  constitute  the  second ;  the  third 
and  abiding  power  is  that  which  is  now  gaining  the  ascend- 
ency, beyond  manifestation,  beyond  expression  of  intellect 
—  is  the  voice  of  the  divine  spirit,  the  living  testimony ;  and 
Spiritualism  merges  more  and  more  into  this  voice.  The 
phenomena  would  be  valueless  without  this ;  the  philosophy 
would  be  a  dead  letter,  and  as  empty  as  many  philosophies  of 
earth.  The  spirit  pervading  the  whole,  partakes  more  of 
the  nature  of  a  universal  religion,  a  religion  that  is  not  en- 
shrined in  dogma,  creed,  sect,  definition,  denomination,  but 
expresses  itself  in  the  uniform  fullness  of  appreciation  of 
Deity  as  a  spirit  infinite,  and  man  as  a  finite  spirit.  Spirit- 
ualism will  not  drift  into  sectarianism.     There  is  too  much 


MANY  VOICES  FROM  THE  SPIEIT  LAND.  223 

space.  The  apertures  in  the  temple  are  too  largely  open  to- 
wards the  sunlight.  Whosoever  seeks  to  build  a  creed,  will 
build  it  of  another  name,  and  another  material  than  Spiritual- 
ism. Several  have  already  been  builded,  or  attempted,  but 
they  are  not  called  Spiritualism.  The  word  in  itself  is  a  per- 
petual testimony  against  creed-building.  It  is  wide,  high, 
broad,  deep,  inclusive ;  it  means  everything  pertaining  to  the 
spirit  of  God  or  man,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  builded  into 
a  creed.  The  perpetual  influx  of  spiritual  life  into  human 
existence  is  embodied  in  its  thought.  It  will  therefore  solve 
the  mysteries.  Its  present  tendency  is  to  find  out  the  points 
of  resemblance  in  religions,  philosophies,  and  all  ages  of  the 
earth,  uniting  them  in  its  power.  It  is  a  solvent,  like  the 
sunlight,  like  the  atmosphere,  and  can  no  more  be  dwarfed, 
limited,  confined,  set  apart,  than  these.  The  more  you  are 
pervaded  by  it,  the  less  you  are  likely  to  build  creeds.  The 
more  you  are  filled  with  its  spirit,  its  essence,  its  power,  the 
less  personal  do  you  become.  It  exalts  the  personality  and 
the  idea  of  Deity.  You  become  impersonal  while  you  become 
exceedingly  individual.  Individuality  is  cultivated,  person- 
ality is  forgotten.  The  spirit  is  unfolded,  the  man  is  devel- 
oped in  his  highest  and  fullest  sense,  but  the  human  creature, 
the  worm,  is  exalted  to  the  butterfly.  Spiritualism  entering 
its  third  aspect  is  inclusive.  It  at  first  was  simply  a  man- 
ifestation, next  a  disintegrator  -,  it  is  now  inclusive,  or  uni- 
versal. 

Consciousness  while  dying;  the  Non-Disintegration  of  the  Spir- 
itual Body;  Conditions  and  Limitations  in  Spirit  Life; 
the  Homes  of  Immortalized  Beings^  and  Lmployments  in  the 
Infinite  Beyond.  From  a  Controlling  Spirit  influencing  Mr. 
H.  B.  Champion^  of  Philadelphia^  in  reply  to  a  series  of 
Questions. 

It  is  about  thirty -five  years  since  I  entered  spirit  life.  I  was 
not  wholly  unconscious  —  only  partially  so  in  the  process  of 
dying.  It  seemed  as  though  I  was  awaking  from  a  long  and 
profound  slumber.     As  I  beheld  new  scenes,  new  forms,  and 


224  IMMORTALITY. 

features,  I  seemed  to  be  ushered  into  a  new  existence  so 
gently  that  the  change  was  hardly  perceptible. 

I  have  no  hesitancy  in  saying  there  is  no  dissolution,  no 
disintegration  of  the  spiritual  body,  in  passing  from  the  earthly 
to  the  spiritual  existence  of  immortality. 

In  reply  to  your  fourth  question  I  would  say  that  my  home 
proper  is  beyond  the  earth's  atmosphere.  Home  to  the  truly 
spiritual  is  where  the  greatest  good  can  be  accomplished. 
This  is  what  imparts  to  the  soul  the  highest  degree  of  pleas- 
ure and  happiness,  the  consciousness  of  having  conferred  good 
upon  others.  .  .  .  All  the  endearments  that  encircle  our 
earthly  lives  are  intensified  in  the  spiritual.  In  earth-life 
motive  prompts  and  circumstance  directs;  but  in  spirit  life 
action  is  not  confined  to  objects  or  designs  that  are  circum- 
scribed, consequently  it  is  a  voluntary  offering  to  God  and 
duty.  Our  home  is  our  happiness;  our  happiness  is  in  well- 
doing. .  .  . 

I  have  a  fixed  habitation,  the  same,  comparatively  speaking, 
that  I  had  when  on  earth,  not  that  is  necessarily  the  same 
in  architectural  design  or  purpose.  Whatever  is  necessary 
is  as  attainable  with  us  as  with  those  in  earth-life ;  but  the 
methods  and  means  for  their  procurement  differ.  Matter  is 
subject  to  the  control  of  will  to  that  degree  that  all  we  desire 
is  immediately  subservient  to  our  wishes,  to  the  extent  that 
our  necessities  require,  and  that  is  made  available  for  the 
good  of  others.  .  .  . 

My  home  in  my  present  sphere  is  ever  being  made  by  my- 
self, and  not  by  another  for  me.  It  is  truly  a  home  not  made 
with  hands.  In  earth-life  we  often  see  subjectively  as  well 
as  objectively.  It  is  in  the  former  sense,  as  compared  with 
the  earth,  that  I  would  have  you  understand  me  spiritually 
when  speaking  of  a  fixed  habitation  or  home.  .  .  .  My  home 
is  located  in  the  sphere  of  consciousness  that  surrounds  my 
true  selfhood.  As  to  its  relation  to  earth,  its  distance  is 
measured  by  the  inherent  worth  that  enables  me  to  rise 
above  all  earthly  and  selfish  considerations. 

Yojr  seventh  question,  as  to  my  having  visited  other  plan- 


MANY  VOICES  FROM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  225 

ets,  is  vague  and  unsatisfactory.  I  know  of  no  better  way  to 
express  myself  than  to  say  that  my  experiences  in  spirit  life 
have  been  similar  to  those  of  earth-life.  Your  clairvoyants 
and  seers  live  often  in  other  spheres,  and  catch  glimpses  of 
other  worlds.  They  are  certain  and  yet  uncertain.  The  truths 
live  in  them  because  they  exist.  We  are  borne,  whither  we 
cannot  tell  in  a  subjective  sense,  to  that  which  we  cannot 
define  or  express.  I  will  answer  this  query  by  saying  I  have 
visited  places  at  vast  distances,  and  have  found  them  inhab- 
ited; but  I  would  be  understood  as  presenting  this  as  a  sub- 
jective realit}',  and  not  an  objective  one  of  a  nature  that  can 
impart  unquestioned  surety  of  its  truth.  Limitation  sets 
bounds  to  all  finite  understanding,  and  we  must  be  under- 
stood as  expressing  the  measure  of  our  experience  and  no 
more. 

As  a  personality,  I  have  not  seen  Christ ;  as  a  principle, 
I  have.  As  the  serpent  was  lifted  up  in  the  wilderness, 
even  so  was  the  Son  of  Man  lifted  up,  that  through  his  like- 
ness might  be  seen  the  truth  of  what  is  possible  to  man 
through  the  divine  instrumentalities  of  nature  and  her  un- 
varying law.  .  .  . 

There  are  insects  and  animals  in  spirit  life.  All  spirit  is 
life,  and  all  life  is  spirit ;  but  we  too  often  let  form  take  the 
precedence  of  fact,  and  look  to  appearance  only.  Form  is  not 
life  in  its  true  sense.  The  material  form  is  not  the  real  man. 
The  real  man  is  never  seen  externally,  but  is  in  the  back- 
ground. Form  is  merely  the  index  finger  of  reality  pointing 
to  the  source,  but  is  not  the  source  itself;  consequently  we 
typify  our  thoughts,  and  often  give  expression  to  ideas  that 
are  superficial,  not  real.  .  .  . 

If  infinite  law  governs  the  universe  of  being,  and  change  is 
written  heaven-wide,  why  should  we  suppose  that  animal  or 
insect  life  is  an  exception  ?  If  man  has  a  material  body  and  a 
spiritual  body,  and  at  death  comes  forth  full-fledged  in  a 
spiritual  body,  why  should  there  not  be  a  corresponding 
change  in  animal  and  insect  life?  Are  we  to  suppose  that 
one  portion  of  creative  force  and  energy  expends  itself,  and 
15 


226  TTVfMORTALITY. 

acts  only  partially.  There  is  the  same  corresponding  change 
in  the  one  that  there  is  in  the  other.  .  .  . 

A  man  that  has  lived  in  the  tropics  will  tell  you  that  there 
are  no  polar  bears  in  spirit  life,  because  he  never  sensed  their 
existence  while  in  earth  life.  This  accounts  for  much  that  is 
contradictory  in  spirit  utterances.  All  may  be  equally  honest 
uttering  their  highest  thought,  and  still  diametrically  opposed 
to  each  other  in  regard  to  the  same  thing.  .  .  .  What  is  sub- 
jective to  man  in  earth-life  is  objective  or  real  in  spirit  life. 
We  have  the  same  experience  correspondingly  as  to  other 
planets  in  a  subjective  sense  as  we  do  in  regard  to  animal  or 
insect  life.  They  are  as  real  and  as  tangible  with  us  as  in 
earth -life.  .  .  . 

Your  question  as  to  how  far  Spiritualism  may  become  a 
power  in  the  land  as  an  organization  is  one  that  presages 
events  that  lay  wrapped  in  the  womb  of  time.  I  will,  how- 
ever, express  my  opinion.  It  will  never  be  a  success,  or  what 
the  world  denominates  as  such,  for  the  following  reasons:  It 
is  opposed  to  the  inherent  nature  of  man  as  associated  with 
spuitual  intelligences.  He  cannot  confine  and  square  spirit- 
ual realities  and  experiences  by  any  known  standard ;  he 
may  recognize  general  known  principles  that  involve  impor- 
tant facts,  but  he  cannot  compass  them.  Like  the  mind,  we 
know  of  its  existence  and  exercise,  but  can  you  organize  it  or 
square  it  to  set  methods  and  rule  ?  Think  of  the  desolation 
and  blood  that  has  ingulfed  every  age  of  the  world's  history 
in  its  attempts  to  organize  religious  institutions,  and  mankind 
have  only  progressed  and  become  great  and  good  as  they  have 
proved  failures. 

Organization  is  desirable  when  wisely  directed  for  that 
which  appertains  to  material  necessities,  but  to  organize  spirit 
or  spiritual  influences  would  be  like  organizing  the  wind. 
You  might  as  well  organize  space  or  time,  or  aught  else  that 
is  undefinable,  as  to  transcend  the  limits  of  materiality  in  that 
direction.  You  may  organize  for  a  purpose,  and  call  that  pur- 
pose spiritual.  You  can  as  well  call  it  by  any  other  name ;  it 
would  be  just  as  effectual.     Organizations  are  man-made  in 


MANY  VOICES   FEOM  THE  SPIRIT  LAND.  227 

Btitutious,  not  heaven-ordained.  If  we  would  ever  keep  this 
distinction  in  view,  they  would  be  estimated  at  their  true 
value.  Spiritualism  is  the  communion  of  soul  with  soul ;  it 
is  the  touch-stone  from  off  the  altar  of  infinity ;  it  is  the  con- 
scious mirror  of  reality  that  admits  of  no  substitute ;  it  is 
older  than  proxies,  pastors,  or  organizations ;  it  is  the  God  of 
truth  enthroned  in  humanity.  Organizations  may  pave  the 
pathway  to  the  fountain,  but  cannot  reach  the  fountain  itself. 
All  organizations  that  have  assumed  or  proposed  to  teach 
with  authority  the  ways  of  God  have  been  a  fraud  upon  hu- 
manity, a  barricade  against  justice  and  truth.  All  truth  must 
live,  and  all  error  must  cease  to  exist ;  therefore  truth  must 
triumph  over  wrong.  Organizations  that  assume  more  than 
the  secular  interests  of  mankind  will  fade  and  fall  as  an  apple 
of  ashes  in  the  hands  of  an  enlightened  humanity.  God  speed 
the  day ! 

Excursions  in  the  Spirit  World. 

B.  B.  Wirt,  a  well-read  gentleman  and  scholar,  engaged  in 
public  teaching  for  over  twenty  years  in  the  vicinity  of  Wil- 
loughby,  Ohio,  has  for  the  past  nine  3'ears  been  vividly  con- 
scious of  frequently  leaving  his  body,  and  traversing  the 
marvelous  spaces  of  spirit  life. 

Upon  the  first  occasion  it  was  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  He  was  absent  from  his  body  one  hour.  He  pre- 
fers to  be  by  himself  at  these  times,  as  the  least  jar  or  dis- 
cordant voice  affects  him  unpleasantly. 

Asking  him  for  descriptions  of  spirit  life,  and  his  sensations 
when  temporarily  leaving  the  body,  he  replied :  "  I  desire,  and 
become  conscious  that  I  am  about  to  leave.  I  feel  that  my 
body  is  not  me^  but  my  dwelling-place.  I  wish  to  have  ever}-- 
thing  around  me  calm  and  quiet.  After  a  few  moments  I  feel 
the  approach  of  spirit  intelligences.  They  seem  to  be  of  a 
positive  character.  The  impression  deepens  that  I  am  going 
out  of  my  fleshly  form.  Seemingly,  I  float  out  and  away 
from  it,  and  if  not  fully,  am  at  least  semi-conscious  of  the 
process. 


228  IMMORTALITT. 

"  I  now  look  back  and  see  the  body  lying  in  bed,  or  repos- 
ing upon  the  sofa.  And  further,  I  see  a  silvery  cord  or  chain 
connecting  ray  spiritual  body,  or  myself,  with  the  earthly  body. 
It  matters  not  how  rapidly  nor  how  far  I  go,  there  is  no  sever- 
ance of  this  sympathetic  chain.  After  becoming  accustomed 
to  these  excursions  I  observed  things  more  closely,  and  even 
so  far  experimented  as  to  find  that  I  could  pass  through  doors, 
windows,  walls,  and  strata  of  matter.  Seen  at  a  distance, 
solid  walls  seem  like  mist.  Often  I  have  passed  through 
them  without  noticing  them. 

"A  band  of  sympathetic,  yet  positive,  spirits  attend,  assisting 
me  in  my  travels  and  explorations.  Many  times,  my  teachers 
leading  the  way,  have  I  passed  directly  through  the  earth. 
These  experiences  proved  to  me  that  no  forms  of  matter  nor 
intense  heat  could  harm  me." 

Are  you  very  sure,  Mr.  Wirt,  that  you  actually  leave  your 
body?  A  few  claiming  some  prominence  in  spiritualism  have 
denied  the  possibility. 

"  Denial  is  of  little  importance  when  put  in  opposition  to 
experience.  If  I  am  conscious  of  any  reality,  if  I  know  any- 
thing absolutely,  I  know  that  I  have  left  my  body  not  only 
scores,  but  hundreds  of  times.  I  can  visit  any  place  on  the 
earth,  and  can  go  to  some  of  the  planets  —  others  I  cannot. 
There  seems  to  be  no  rapport.  They  affect  me  strangely.  .  .  . 
I've  seen  immense  continents  of  unresolved  nebulae  floating 
or  suspended  between  the  attractive  forces  of  stellar  sj'stems, 
something  as  clouds  are  held  between  the  upi>er  and  lower 
atmospheric  currents.  .  .  I've  traveled  so  far  off  into  the 
distance  that  I  could  not  oee  our  sun ;  and  yet,  looming  in 
what  you  would  call  the  background,  were  stars,  suns,  and 
constellations,  dotting  measureless  immensities.  .  .  .  While 
on  these  voyages,  relieved  of  my  mortal  body,  I've  investi- 
gated and  studied  the  grades  and  conditions  of  spirits  in  the 
spirit  world.  There  are  those  that  you  may  well  call  earth- 
bound  spirits.  Though  permanently  out  of  their  earthly  bod- 
ies, their  desires  and  affections  are  earthly.  They  are  very 
low.     They  are  not  only  mischievous,  but  selfish  and  mali- 


MANY   VOICES  FHOM   THE   SPIEIT    LAND.  229 

cious.  They  cau  see  those  on  their  own  plain,  but  not  high 
exalted  spiiits.  Ancient  seers  and  sages  seldom  come  to  our 
earth.  Bright  and  beautiful  spirits  dwell  afar  from  the  earth 
on  radiant  zones  or  aural  belts  of  sublimated  substance  diver- 
sified with  mountains  and  valleys,  forests  and  fields,  placid 
lakes  and  silvery  streajns,  lawns,  gardens,  and  bowers  of 
roses." 

7^e  Fountain-of-Light  City. 

"  I  have  made  hundreds  of  excursions  to  a  city  —  my  future 
home  —  called  the  '  Fountain  of  Light.'  I  will  not  pretend 
to  compute  the  distance  of  this  city  from  the  earth ;  and  yet 
I  go  to  it  in  a  few  seconds.  It  is,  I  should  judge,  about  one 
hundred  miles  square.  Its  parks,  four  in  number,  are  mag- 
nificent. There  are  fountains  in  these  parks,  the  sprays  and 
drops  of  which  in  the  spirit-sunshine  glitter  like  diamonds. 
The  city  is  laid  out  with  perfect  regularity.  The  streets  are 
very  wide.  The  lawns  are  velvety  green,  flecked  with  flowers 
and  blossoming  vines.  The  structures  average  two  and  three 
Btories.  They  reveal  individualities.  No  two  are  just  alike. 
Each  mansion  is  a  palace,  and  each  palace  is  a  temple  of  art. 
The  walls  to  those  outside  are  translucent.  In  evening  time 
they  are  lighted  by  artificial  lights.  Often  have  I  been  in 
these  palaces.  The  majority  peopling  this  city  are  devoted  to 
educational  interests;  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be  one  grand 
university,  the  employment  being  teaching  and  being  taught." 

A  Residence  in  the  Fcnintain-of-Light  City. 

"  Deficiency  of  language  renders  my  descriptions  imperfect. 
I  will  try.  A  palace-home  that  I  have  often  entered  is  com- 
posed externally  of  an  ethereal  cream-colored  substance, 
resembling,  though  far  excelling,  any  Italian  marble.  I  had 
previously  seen  the  quarry  from  which  the  material  was  hewn 
by  willing  workmen.  The  house,  though  but  two  stories, 
reached  up  exceedingly  high,  and  was  constructed  upon  the 
principle  of  the  cube.  It  had  graceful  towers  at  the  corners, 
and  was  crowned  with  a  grand  and  towering  dome.  On  the 
first  floor  was  a  large  reception-room,  containing  many  pic- 


230  IMMORTALITY. 

tures  of  both  mortals  and  immortals.  The  walls  were  taste- 
fully frescoed  ;  there  were  also  ornaments  and  finely-chiseled 
statues.  On  the  same  floor  was  a  musical  apartment,  and  a 
Hbrary  of  books,  and  quaint  scrolls.  The  upper  rooms  were 
for  students,  and  more  private.  No  two  rooms  were  precisely 
alike.  Connected  with  this  building  were  culinary  depart' 
ments.  At  regular  seasons  they  had  their  repasts.  I  have 
seen  their  tables  spread  in  wondrous  luxury, —  flowers,  odors, 
honeys,  tropical  fruits,  and  delicacies  unknown  to  earth.  I 
have  seen  their  fires,  their  kitchens,  and  their  servants ;  but 
their  servants  were  willing  subjects,  desiring  their  positions 
for  the  sake  of  improvement.  I  have  joined  their  repasts, 
partaking  of  their  foods,  drinks,  nectars,  and  life-giving 
balms. 

"  I  have  never  seen  serpents  nor  beasts  of  prey  in  spirit  life ; 
but  have  seen  birds  of  beautiful  plumage,  and  animals,  under 
the  control  of  spirits.  Though  almost  infinitely  more  ethe- 
real, everything  is  just  as  substantial  as  upon  earth. 

"  The  '  Fountain-of-Light '  City  lies  on  the  shores  of  Silver- 
Wave  Lake.  One  of  the  fountains  is  called  '  Dripping  Dia- 
monds,' and  one  of  the  glittering  streets  is  named  'Rose- 
fringed  Avenue.'      Names  here  are  expressive  of  qualities. 

'  Oh,  what  a  wondious  life  is  oura ! 

To  dwell  within  this  earthly  range, 
Yet  parley  with  the  heavenly  powers — 
Two  worlds  in  interchange.' " 

Ari  Eccentric  Asiatic  Spirit. 
During  my  sojourn  in  southern  India,  on  the  second  visit  to 
that  most  interesting  country,  I  met  a  Brahmanical  seer,  who 
ministered  in  a  Sivaite  temple,  devoting  a  portion  of  Friday 
to  the  casting  out  of  demons.  He  was  a  truly  devout  man, 
and  for  a  Brahman,  catholic  in  spirit,  touching  the  religions 
of  other  countries  and  other  ages.  He  also  devoted  special 
seasons  to  prayers  and  long  fasts  ;  after  which  he  passed  into 
a  deep  interior  trance  state,  becoming  the  insti-ument  of  spirit 
control.  Only  a  few  of  the  tried  and  the  worthy  knew  of 
his  gift. 


Many  voices  from  the  spirit  land.  231 

After  a  few  weeks  of  pleasant  acquaintance,  he  consented, 
being  pressingly  urged,  to  go  into  his  unconscious  trance 
condition,  which,  according  to  the  interpreter,  was  equivalent 
to  a  "transient  death-sleep." 

He  first  burned  incense,  offered  prayers,  appeared  trem- 
ulous, the  head  whirling,  then  spasmodic  ;  and  then  becoming, 
so  far  as  I  could  discover,  utterly  unconscious,  he  began  to 
speak,  or  rather  the  controlling  intelligence  did,  in  a  soft, 
musical,  unknown  tongue. 

"  Can  you  speak  English  ?  "  I  inquired. 

He  answered'  promptly  in  the  affirmative ;  but  added,  "  I 
prefer  another  language ;  you  have  an  inteipreter." 

I  then  asked  him  many  important  questions,  the  nature  of 
which  will  be  readily  understood  by  the  answers. 

How  long  in  spirit  life?     Time,  what  is  it? 

"  Why  ask  ?  Time  should  be  measured  by  aims  and  holy  acts 
performed.  Why  do  men  remain  so  long  but  children  in  wisdom? 

"  My  name,  you  would  not  know  its  import  should  I  give  it. 
In  this  land,  where  you  now  walk  a  stranger,  and  where  I 
had  a  birth,  names  originally  meant  something  ;  but  in  the 
west,  among  English-speaking  people,  they  imply  nothing  of 
qualities  or  purposes.  You  may  call  me  Mystic.  I  dwell  in 
the  infinitudes.     Judge  me  by  what  I  teach. 

"  I  did  not  die,  but  swooned  into  another  cyclic  mode  of  life. 
There  was  gladness  among  friends  at  my  coming.  I  was 
fully  myself  at  once,  and,  oh,  how  delightful  to  breathe  I 

"  A  venerable  spirit  of  most  benignant  countenance,  a  sage 
on  earth,  a  seraph  now,  approaching  mildly,  suggested  that 
we  pass  away,  and  on  to  the  peace-lands  of  rest.  I  was 
borne  in  a  chariot-like  palanquin  festooned  with  flowers,  and 
my  soul  was  full  of  gratitude  to  God.  Consciousness  knows 
God,  as  the  eye  knows  light,  as  the  senses  sense  appearances. 
Your  earth  is  the  shadow-land  of  phenomena ;  ours  is  the  real 
land  of  permanence. 

"  Reaching  the  valley  of  '  Silent  Repose,'  near  the  '  Quiet 
Villa  of  Love,'  I  was  left  in  the  *  Temple  of  Judgment,' — for 
reflection.    Memory  seemed  quickened,  and  the  checkered  life 


232  IMMORTAIilTT. 

on  earth  passed  before  me  like  a  speaking  vision.  My  cou- 
Bcience  seemed  only  another  name  for  compensation.  The 
inmost  books  were  opened.  I  was  before  the  throne  of  judg- 
ment. I  wept.  And  while  thus  weeping  and  lamenting,  a  calm 
angelic  presence  drawing  near,  said,  *  I  am  your  teacher, 
why  do  you  weep  ?  Tears  will  not  return  you  your  lost  time, 
nor  remedy  the  past.'  His  presence  was  so  overpowering, 
and  his  tones  of  voice  so  tender,  that  my  tears  flowed  the 
more  freely. 

"  *  Come,*  said  he,  a  pleasant  smile  softening  every  feature 
of  his  face,  '  let  us  away  to  the  fountain  of  purity.  Let  us 
away,  that  you  may  drink  of  the  waters  of  life.'  .  .  . 

"  We  soon  reached  the  radiant  spot.  The  fountain  of  heal- 
ing that  bubbled  up  was  met  by  what  appeared  like  a  silvery 
river  flowing  down  through  a  rift  of  gorgeous  clouds ;  and 
standing  near,  were  glorified  beings  arrayed  in  white,  save 
their  beaming  girdles  of  gold. 

"  I  bathed  in  these  weird  waters,  received  the  new  name, 
the  Seven  Stars,  and  was  clothed  in  another  garment,  indi- 
cating my  employment.  The  texture  of  this  raiment  corres- 
ponded to  my  spiritual  attainments.  .  .  . 

"I  surprise  you,  do  I,  by  my  familiarity  with  the  symbols 
and  figures  of  the  New  Testament,  especially  those  of  the 
Apocalypse.  Why  so?  Is  not  God  one?  Did  not  all  religious 
systems  have  a  common  origin  ?  Did  not  this  country  cradle 
one  of  the  oldest  ?  And  do  you  not  consider  that  the  Christian 
religion,  relieved  of  its  world-imposed  excrescences,  is  the 
purest  and  most  divine?  .  .  .  Further,  for  many  years  I 
have  in  a  degree  guarded  and  impressed  one  of  England's 
proudest  scholars ;  in  his  linguistic  researches  I  fathom  the 
depths  of  his  soul. 

"  The  truly  and  unselfishly  good  on  earth,  whether  bom  in 
the  pensive  East  or  positive  West,  not  only  meet  and  mingle 
in  the  higher  realms  of  the  blest,  but  they  admit  the  truth 
of  what  the  New  Testament  apostle  taught,  that  'Christ 
was  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power  of  God.'  All  highly 
advanced,  or  angelic  spirits,  so  far  as  I  know,  consider  Jesus 


MAKY  VOICES  mOM  THE   SPIKIT  LAKD.  238 

Christ  the  Son  of  God  and  the  great  antagonist  of  Satan.  I 
call  to  your  remembrance  these  words  of  Paul :  '  My  little 
children,  for  whom  I  travel  in  birth  again.'  For  what? 
Observe  the  answer:  'Until  Christ  be  formed  in  you.' 
Surely,  Christ  was  life,  and  that  *Life  is  the  Light  of  Men.' 
Your  world  and  ours  are  but  one,  or  at  most  two  links  of 
one  chain.  .  .  . 

"  Speaking  as  a  spirit,  spiritually,  Jesus  Christ  is  the  ruling 
Prince  of  your  planet  —  the  reflection  of  the  invisible  God  — 
the  *  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life '  eternal  I  .  .  . 

"  It  is  doubtless  true,  as  you  say,  that  there  are  men  on  earth 
who  deny  the  very  existence  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  so  there 
are  proud,  selfish,  and  self-sufficient  spirits  down  in  the  Tar- 
tarean regions  of  darkness,  who  deny  Christ,  deny  all  truth, 
deny  and  sneer  at  all  helps,  and  all  the  higher  instructions  of 
the  heavens.     Their  imagined  wisdom  is  folly.  .  .  . 

"Now,  it  is  not  singular  that  individuals  in  whom  intellect 
predominates  over  spirituality  and  intuition,  should  utterly 
ignore  the  soul's  pre-existence.  But  which  is  first,  the  musi- 
cian, or  the  harp  ?  the  imposing  palace,  or  the  architect  ?  the 
earthly  body,  or  the  soul  ?  The  truth  upon  this  subject,  as 
taught  in  our  spiritual  heaven,  is  this:  The  soul,  allied  to 
God,  is  the  conscious  intelligence  —  the  enthroned  life;  and 
as  such,  it  builds  its  earthly  habitation.  It  can  live  without 
it,  for  it  existed  prior  to  it.  It  entered  into  it  at  will,  and 
can  leave  it,  when  rightly  conditioned,  previous  to  the  com- 
plete separation  and  transition. 

"  Your  Scriptures  not  only  affirm  that  the  soul  of  Jesus 
Christ  *was  before  Abraham,'  as  a  mortal;  but  they  teach 
that  'Levi  paid  tithes  in  Abraham,  for  he  was  in  the  loins  of 
his  father  when  Melchizedec  met  him.'  Here  the  actual 
Levi  is  represented,  not  only  as  living  a  pre-existent  germinal 
life,  but  as  literally  acting  some  two  hundred  years  before  his 
birth  into  the  external  world. 

"  You  ask,  do  you,  what  mortals  most  need  to  fit  them  for 
heaven  ? 

"  More  trust  in  God,  more  faith  in  prayer,  more  true  culture, 


234  IMMORTALITY. 

more  self-sacrifice,  more  humility,  more  meekness,  more  med* 
itation,  and  a  deeper  conviction  of  sin  ! 

"  Are  not  the  angels  of  God  pure  ?  then  must  you  become 
pure,  before  you  can  associate  with  them. 

"Are  not  the  angels  honest  J»nd  just?  then  must  you  be 
just  to  become  their  compauionL*. 

"  Are  not  the  angels  truthful  and  calm  ?  then  must  you  be 
such,  before  you  can  stand  in  their  midst. 

"  Are  not  the  angels  those  who  have  '  overcome '  ?  then 
must  you  overcome  the  passions  and  the  pride  of  life,  ere 
you  can  with  them  eat  of  the  tree  of  life. 

"  Are  not  the  angels  serene,  pure-minded,  and  holy  ?  then 
must  you  become  pure,  and  loving,  and  holy,  before  you  can 
enter  the  '  holy  of  holies,'  and  abide  with  angels  of  God." 

The  reverential  spirit  of  the  above  teachings  reminded  me 
of  these  sweet,  plaintive  lines  of  Father  Ryan,  the  poet, 
priest,  and  mystic : 

"  I  walk  down  the  Valley  of  Silence, 

Down  the  dim,  voiceless  valley  —  &k>nel 
And  I  hear  not  the  fall  of  footstep 

Around  me  —  save  God's  and  my  own ! 
And  the  hush  of  my  heart  is  as  holy 

As  hovers  where  angels  have  flown. 

Long  ago  was  I  weary  of  voices 

Whose  music  my  heart  could  not  win ; 
Long  ago  I  was  weaiy  of  noises 

That  fretted  my  soul  with  their  din; 
Long  ago  was  I  weaiy  of  places 

^Vherc  I  met  but  the  Human  and  Sin. 

I  walked  through  the  world  with  the  worldly ; 

I  craved  what  the  world  never  gave ; 
And  I  said :  '  In  the  world  each  Ideal, 

That  shines  like  a  star  on  life's  wave. 
Is  toned  on  the  shores  of  the  Real, 

And  sleeps  like  a  dream  in  a  grave.' 

And  still  did  I  pine  for  the  Perfect, 

And  still  found  the  false  with  the  true ; 
I  sought  'mid  the  Human  of  Heaven, 

But  caught  a  mere  glimpse  of  the  blue ; 
And  I  wept  when  the  clouds  of  the  Mortal 

Veiled  even  that  glimpse  from  my  view. 


MANY   VOICES  FROM   THE  SPIRIT   LAND. 

And  I  toiled  on,  heart-tired  of  the  Hura^«: 
And  I  moaned  'mid  the  mazes  of  menj 

Till  I  knelt  long  ago  at  an  altar, 
And  heard  a  voice  call  me ;  since  then 

I  walk  down  the  Valley  of  Silence 
That  lies  far  beyond  mortal  ken. 

Do  you  ask  what  I  found  in  the  valley  ? 

Tis  my  trysting-place  with  the  divine ; 
And  I  fell  at  the  feet  of  the  angcJ, 

And  about  me  a  voice  said,  '  Be  mine  I ' 
And  then  rose  from  the  depths  of  my  spirit 

An  echo :  '  My  heart  shall  be  thine.' 

Do  you  ask  how  I  live  in  the  valley  ? 

I  weep,  and  I  dream,  and  I  pray ; 
But  my  tears  are  as  sweet  as  the  dewdrop* 

That  fall  on  the  roses  in  May ; 
And  my  prayer,  like  a  perfume  from  censer, 

Ascendeth  to  God  night  and  day. 

In  the  hush  of  the  Valley  of  Silence 

I  dream  all  the  songs  that  I  sing ; 
And  the  music  floats  down  the  dim  valley. 

Till  each  finds  a  word  for  a  wing, 
That  to  men,  like  the  doves  of  the  Delag«, 

The  message  of  Peace  they  may  bring. 

But  far  on  the  deep  there  are  billows 
That  never  shall  break  on  the  beach ; 

And  I  have  heard  songs  in  the  silence 
That  never  shall  float  into  speech ; 

And  I  have  had  dreams  in  the  valley 
Too  loft)'  for  language  to  reach. 

And  I  have  seen  souls  in  the  valley  — 
Ah,  me !  how  my  spirit  was  stirred  f 

And  they  wear  holy  veils  on  their  facea  — 
Their  footsteps  can  scarcely  be  bean) ; 

They  pass  through  the  valley,  like  virgina 
Too  pure  for  the  touch  of  a  word. 

Do  you  ask  me  the  place  of  the  valley, 
Ye  hearts  that  are  harrowed  by  care  ? 

It  lieth  afar  between  mountains, 
And  God  and  His  angels  are  there; 

And  one  is  the  dark  mound  of  sorrow, 
And  one  the  bright  mountain  of  prmycv.^ 


VM  IMMORTALITY. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

CRYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES  OF  MANY  IN   SPIRIT 
LIFE. 

"  The  Heavens  are  a  point  from  the  pen  of  God's  Perfection ;  the  World  is  a  bud 
from  the  flower  of  His  Beautj-;  the  Sun  is  a  spark  from  the  light  of  His  Wisdom,  and 
the  Sky  is  a  bubble  on  the  sea  of  His  Power.  He  made  miirors  of  the  atoms  of  the 
world,  and  threw  the  reflection  from  His  own  face  on  eveiy  atom."        Zoroastek. 

"From  the  surf-beaten  beach  and  the  white  terror  of  underlying  reefs;  from  battle- 
fields, where  life  was  flung  away  as  if  it  bad  no  value;  frcta  palace,  house,  and 
cottage-bed,  fi-om  study  and  street,  from  eveiy  locality  beneath  that  rolling  sun,  men 
have  gone  up.  .  .  .  And  all  these  —  the  strong,  the  passionate,  and  the  loving  —  took 
all  their  powers  and  feelings  with  them.  Upon  the  smaller  the  larger  life  was  on  the 
instant  grafted.  The}-  did  find  their  growth  '  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.'  They  were 
all  changed  as  the  bud  is  changed  when  it  blossoms,  as  the  sun  is  changed  when  it 
sails  out  from  behind  the  veil  of  the  eclipse.  There  was  do  lapse  of  power,  no  inter- 
ruption of  the  faculties,  no  cessation  of  thought,  no  ebb  to  the  majestic  cun-ent  of 
their  lives  in  death."  W.  II.  II.  Murray. 

Everything  physical  is  infilled  with  spirit  life,  and  has 
its  counterpart  in  the  spiritual :  the  physical  body  is  but  the 
soul's  instrument  for  a  little  season.  All  sensations,  all 
thought,  reason,  and  moral  responsibilit}^,  pertain  to  the  inner 
man,  which  we  term  the  soul.  You  will  find  that  ranks  and 
honors  avail  nothing,  when  waking  into  our  more  real  sphere 
of  life. 

When  seen  that  every  atom,  every  pebble,  every  mineral, 
every  vegetable,  every  animal,  is  insphered  with  its  own 
aura,  you  may  understand  that  there  is  a  talismanic  medium 
of  invisible  communication,  detectible  by  sensitive  persons. 
Your  clothing  is  pervaded  by  your  aural  emanations.  Con- 
sumptive persons  weave  sickness  into  their  garments.  Accord- 
ingly the  vestures  of  the  sick,  as  well  as  old  tattered  gar- 
ments, should  be  buried,  or  burned. 

The  human  soul,  like  the  life  of  everything  that  is  sen- 


CRYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  237 

tient,  has  attributes  of  its  own ;  this  evolves  an  odorous 
atmosphere,  exactly  in  correspondence  with  its  inner  aiiec- 
tions.     Angels  sense  this  at  a  glance. 

Colors  have  their  correspondences  in  our  sphere  of  immor- 
tality ;  these  report  the  mental  and  moral  status  of  the 
individual.  Spirits  and  mortals  are  therefore  seen  in  diversely 
colored  habiliments.  In  persons  who  are  gross  and  sensual, 
the  colors  emitted  are  dark  and  hazy ;  the  clothing  of  some 
spirits  is  dull  and  murky;  around  the  merely  intellectual  it 
is  clear  and  positive,  with  bluish  shadings ;  while  around  the 
spiritual,  loving,  and  harmonial,  it  is  bright  and  silvery,  mel- 
lowing off  into  the  golden.  When  Cornelius  was  praying,  a 
man  stood  before  him  in  bright  clothing ;  the  light  that  shone 
round  about  Paul,  after  his  conversion,  was  above  the  bright- 
ness of  the  sun ;  and  John  of  Patmos  perceived  that  those 
who  had  overcome  were  clothed  in  white  robes,  girt  about 
with  golden  girdles. 

"  No  one  is  permitted  to  scale  the  glorious  heights  but  after 
discipline  of  sorrow.  The  key  of  knowledge  is  in  spirit- 
hands,  and  none  may  wrest  it  to  himself  but  the  earnest  soul 
which  is  disciplined  by  trial.     Bear  that  in  mind. 

"  Ease  and  luxury  are  the  pleasant  paths  in  which  the  soul 
lingers  and  dreams  away  the  summer  da}'.  Self-denial,  self- 
sacrifice,  self-discipline  are  the  upward  tracks,  thorn-vexed 
and  rocky,  which  lead  to  the  heights  of  knowledge  and  power. 
Study  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  be  wise. 

"  Moreover,  the  present  is  a  time  of  hard  and  bitter  conflict 
between  us  and  our  foes.  We  have  told  you  that  you  feel 
the  reflex  of  that  struggle.  It  accompanies  every  great 
development  of  Divine  Truth.  It  is,  as  ib  were,  the  darkness 
that  precedes  the  dawn :  the  gloom  which  is  the  pre-requisite 
for  growth :  the  period  of  trial  wherein  the  earnest  soul  is 
purified.  '  Your  hour  and  the  power  of  darkness.'  said 
Jesus,  as  he  agonized  in  Gethsemane.  It  is  so  now  ;  and  it 
will  not  pass  lightly.     The  cup  must  be  drained." 


238  IMMORTALITY. 

"  In  heaven,  love  joins  all  in  softest  bonds  ;  no  element  of 
discord  is  known  or  could  be  endured  for  an  instant ;  it 
would  send  a  jar,  painful  in  the  extreme,  through  the  whole  of 
heaven.  As,  when  a  single  nerve  of  the  body  is  subjected  to 
violence,  the  whole  system  responds  with  an  exquisitely  pain- 
ful sympathy,  so  in  heaven,  a  single  thought  or  emotion 
discordant  to  the  general  harmony  of  love  would  send  a 
^>hrill  of  agony  through  every  breast.  Souls,  then,  must  be 
trained  to  that  state  of  harmonious  response  which  will 
enable  them  to  belong  to  the  company  of  the  brighter  beings 
who  form  heaven ;  and  this  is  brought  about  by  degrees 
through  states  of  trial,  whereby  all  the  old,  earthly,  inhar- 
monious conditions  are  put  off,  and  the  soul  gradually  grows 
into  the  harmony  of  love,  and  by  self-exertion  constantly 
preserves  that  harmony  in  perfection,  as  man  instinctively 
strives  for  health  on  earth.  This  effected,  a  soul  is  fitted  to 
enter  heaven,  being  no  longer  repugnant  to  its  life ;  and  it 
enters,  giving  forth,  as  flowers  their  perfume,  those  exquisite 
auras,  those  soul-fragrances  which  are  the  outbreathings  of  a 
purified  nature,  which  clothe  it  around  with  celestial  glory 
and  with  god-like  comeliness." 

"  You  should  know  how,  and  under  what  conditions,  truth 
can  be  had  from  our  higher  world  ;  and  how  error,  and 
deceit,  and  frivolity,  and  folly,  may  be  warded  off.  Aspira- 
tion and  prayer  should  precede  the  opening  of  the  spiritual 
seance.  Your  aims  and  your  purposes  should  not  be  idle 
curiosity,  but  the  hope  to  obtain  that  spiritual  food  which 
perisheth  not.  All  this,  and  much  more,  should  man  know, 
if  he  expects  safely  to  meddle  with  our  world.  And  when 
he  has  leai'ned  this,  or  while  he  is  learning  it,  he  must  see 
too  that  on  himself  depends  most  or  all  of  the  success.  Let 
him  crush  self,  purify  his  inmost  spirit,  driving  out  impu- 
rity as  a  plague,  and  elevating  his  aims  to  their  highest 
possible ;  let  him  love  Truth  as  his  Deity,  to  which  all  else 
shall  bow  ;  let  him  follow  it  as  his  sole  aim,  careless  whither 
the  quest  may  lead  him,  and  round  him  shall  circle  the  Mes- 


CETSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  239 

Bengers  of  the  Most  High,  and  in  his  inmost  soul  he  shall  see 
Hght."  .... 

"In  our  world  of  spirits  are  cities,  villas,  forests,  fields, 
fountains,  gardens  with  gardeners,  orchestras  with  stringed 
instruments,  theaters  with  actors  and  actresses,  houses  with 
inhabitants,  and  sporting  grounds  with  their  patrons.  Our 
spirit  world,  with  its  spheres  and  societies,  enzones  your 
w^orld.  In  our  midst  and  your  midst,  unseen  to  you,  are 
millions  of  spirits  who  have  never  left  the  earth.  Multi- 
tudes of  them  are  your  daily  guests ;  they  live  with  you,  they 
have  their  dwellings  with  you,  their  attractions  are  with  you. 
As  yet  your  earth  world  is  their  spirit  world.  They  are  pre- 
pared for  nothing  higher." 

"  I  am  a  messenger  spirit.  I  can  make  myself  positive  to 
nearly  all  conditions  of  spirit  life.  I  report  what  I  see.  The 
highwayman,  who  on  earth  delighted  in  deeds  of  daring  and 
robbery,  here  follows  his  favorite  pursuits,  and  r<^-enjoys  all 
the  pleasures  attendant  upon  such  a  life  on  earth.  In  this 
society  are  all  thieves.  Tiie  debauchee  is  there,  and,  in  a 
bacchanalian  society,  imaginarily  satisfies  his  appetites,  and 
feels  all  those  exhilarating  thrills  —  and  relapses  —  that  were 
his  lot  on  earth.  This  society  is  the  most  beastly  in  this 
circle,  for  in  it  are  committed  all  species  of  crime,  and  are 
exhibited  all  conditions  of  debasement.  The  bacchanalian 
song  echoes  and  re-echoes  through  their  ranks,  until  the  vault 
of  this  portion  of  the  hells  rings  with  one  unceasing,  discord- 
ant shout.  Oh,  it  is  an  awful  spectacle  to  behold  human 
souls  writhing  in  the  agonies  that  dwell  in  this  society  of  the 
first  circle !  —  but  we  are  cheered  by  the  glorious  knowledge 
that  reformatory  influences  will  operate  upon  its  members,  and 
in  time  be  reached  by  the  redemptive  powers  of  love  and 
wisdom."  .... 

"  *  And  what,'  I  asked,  *  is  to  be  the  future  destiny  of  these 
sluggish  spirits  ?  * 


240  IMMOKTALITY. 

"  '  Eternity,'  she  said,  'and  eternal  love  will  work  in  them 
eternal  progress.  But  that  progress,  like  their  natures,  will 
be  slow ;  and  though  their  cup  of  pleasure  may  always  be 
full,  yet  it  will  always  be  small.' 

"  Away  to  the  left  of  these  I  thou  discovered  what  appeared 
like  a  livery  stable,  and  near  by  it  a  race-course.  I  asked 
what  this  meant.  She  said,  *  It  is  a  society  of  those  who  love 
fast  horses,  who  in  the  earth-life  would  be  called  jockeys.' 
'  Are  they  a  society  of  much  repute  among  other  circles  of  the 
spirit  realms  ? '  I  asked.  *  Not  much,'  she  said.  '  They  have 
a  love  peculiar  to  themselves,  and  a  dialect  peculiar,  and  not 
much  sympathy  or  correspondence  with  those  of  other  tastes.' " 

"Here  I  was  permitted  to  see  a  phase  of  social  life  in 
heaven.  The  people  or  spirits  of  one  of  the  mountains  met 
together,  of  all  ages  and  sexes,  in  a  small  grove  on  the  side 
of  the  mountain  for  social  exercise  and  enjoyment,  the  chief 
entertainment  being,  on  this  occasion,  the  singing  of  pastoral 
songs.  We  could  distinctly  hear  the  sweet  tones  as  they 
came  floating  across  the  lake,  which  thrilled  my  soul  with 
very  pleasure. 

"  At  this  moment  two  beautiful  spirits  passed  by  us  in 
haste,  as  if  on  some  special  message.  I  asked  my  guide  what 
these  meant. 

"  She  beckoned  with  her  hand  as  if  to  some  one  at  a  dis- 
tance. Immediately  a  bright  spirit  approached,  having  a 
countenance  full  of  intelligence  and  benignity,  and  greeted 
us  in  the  most  friendly  manner.  Then  said  my  companion, 
*  Can  you  tell  us,  brother,  on  what  errand  those  sisters  are 
speeding  to-day  ? ' 

" '  Yes,'  he  said,  *  they  have  a  sister  ill,  in  the  flesh,  and 
they  are  sent  to  watch  by  her  bed-side,  to-night.' 

" '  Do  the  spirits,  then,'  I  asked, '  really  visit  or  revisit  earth 
and  minister  to  their  friends  in  the  flesh  ? ' 

"  *  Yes,'  answered  the  brother.  '  Do  not  the  Scriptures 
teach  us  that  all  the  angels  are  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth 
to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation?     Did 


CRYSTAL  DEOPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  241 

not  the  angels  have  charge  over  Christ  in  the  earth-life? 
And  were  not  Moses  and  Elias  seen  talking  with  him? 
Man's  spiritual  vision  is  necessarily  dim.  His  mind,  clogged 
by  the  grossness  of  the  material  body,  is  full  of  misapprehen- 
sions of  angel  ministry. '  " 

"  Here  we  live  amid  a  state  of  things  which  is  an  enlarge- 
ment of  your  life.  But  how  can  we  describe  to  you  an  enlarge- 
ment of  that  which  you  do  not  already  understand  ?  How 
explain  the  growth  of  a  small  tree  into  a  large  tree  to  a  per- 
son who  has  never  been  capable  of  grasping  the  fact  of  a 
tree  ?  Yet  that  is  what  spirits  try  to  do  who  give  descriptions 
of  this  life  to  earth-dwellers.  Man's  own  actions  lead  him 
into  the  pastures  upon  which  his  mind  feeds,  and  in  a  higher 
state  you  will  move  of  yourself  among  these  higher  spheres, 
instead  of  straining  for  broken  words  and  misinterpreted  sen- 
tences from  another  world. 

"  You  must  not  misunderstand  me,  and  suppose  that  1 
mean  spiritual  truths  should  not  be  impressed  upon  the  mind 
of  man  whenever  God  opens  the  gates  for  us.  That  is  com- 
munication of  a  different  order.  He  permits  a  flood  of  light 
to  break  upon  the  world  sometimes  when  the  life  of  man  is 
sinking  too  utterly.  A  few  gleams  are  reaching  you  now, 
you  earth-dwellers ;  and  God  forbid  that  I,  one  of  the  workers, 
should  disparage  any  of  that  which  we  have  power  to  impart. 
No.  What  I  say  is,  Use  your  opportunities  wisely.  I  see 
that  our  languages  have  a  common  vocabulary  for  certain 
forms  of  spiritual  life  —  those  of  which  you  are  cognizant 
while  still  in  the  body.  Of  these  we  can  speak,  and  can  thus 
help  you  that  look  up.  Those  that  look  not  up  it  is  permitted 
to  rouse  by  a  coarser  mode  of  demonstration." 

"  You  are  accustomed  to  suppose  that  in  order  to  make  a 
good  appearance  in  the  physical  world  your  dwelling  or  habi- 
tation, or  surroundings,  must  be  of  such  and  such  an  order. 
Now  in  spiritual  life  this  is  the  same,  but  it  chances  to  be  a 
fact  that  the  abode  of  the  spirit,  as  well  as  the  garments  that 
16 


242  IMMORTALITY. 

it  wears,  and  the  various  surroundings  that  it  possesses,  are 
the  result  of  far  different  kinds  of  labor  than  those  employed 
on  earth  to  attain  them,  and  that  you  cannot  do  it  by  any 
recognized  system  of  fraud  upon  your  neighbor,  or  by  any 
of  the  usual  terms  called  speculation  and  business  and  train- 
ing ;  but  that  the  entire  property  of  the  spirit  is  the  result  of 
his  or  her  sterling  mental  and  moral  qualities ;  that  your  spir- 
itual body  in  substance  must  be  able  to  attract  to  itself  parti- 
cles of  beauty  by  tlie  amount  and  intensity  of  the  beauty  and 
light  that  is  within ;  that  3'ou  cannot  cover  up  the  inner  dark- 
ness with  a  robe  of  splendor,  nor  shelter  the  imperfect  soul  in 
an  abode  and  palace  of  luxury  ;  that  the  pauper  who  is  honest 
in  purpose,  and  strives  to  do  his  best,  inherits  a  home,  while 
the  prince  who  has  lavished  no  gifts  save  those  robbed  from 
the  poor  and  the  fatherless,  is  a  beggar  in  spirit  life.  And  so 
inevitably  the  law  is  this :  that  upon  entering  spiritual  exist- 
ence you  find  yourself  in  precisely  the  condition  and  sur- 
roundings that  j-our  mental  and  moral  status  call  you  to,  and 
you  find  that  you  have  builded  your  spiritual  habitation,  and 
clothed  your  spiritual  body,  either  with  a  raiment  of  good 
thoughts  and  deeds,  or  with  shadowy  garments  of  unkindness 
and  corruption. 

"  This  is  not  merely  a  sentiment,  or  a  flower  of  speech  or  of 
rhetoric,  but  so  palpable  is  it  that  it  belongs  to  the  world  of 
legitimate  cause  and  effect  —  that  the  soul  attracts  those 
atoms  that  beautify  and  adorn  it  in  exact  proportion  as  it  is 
beautiful,  and  can  so  attract  them.  The  lily,  which  has 
within  itself  the  germ  of  the  flower,  absorbs  from  sun  and 
from  air  the  properties  that  clothe  it  in  whiteness ;  and  the 
spirit  of  thought  and  action  and  volition  draws  to  itself  either 
the  shadowy  vapors  of  uncertainty  and  profligate  life,  or  the 
beautiful  white  atoms  that  glisten  in  the  sunlight  of  purity 
and  truth.  Between  these  two  stand  all  souls  in  their  spirit- 
ual state,  whether  they  be  embodied  or  disembodied;  and 
hence,  to  the  spiritual  vision  and  in  the  spiritual  world,  there 
is  no  such  thing  as  the  possibility  of  concealing  the  real  state 
or  condition  of  mind  one  from  the  other. 


CRYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  243 

'•  The  mask  that  is  worn  upon  earth  is  often  successful,  but 
even  here  a  clear-sighted  and  intuitive  observer  may  see  the 
lines  of  character,  or  may  perceive  that  vice  has  made  its 
inroads  even  upon  the  fairest  physical  form ;  while  the  spirit- 
ual body,  which  is  composed  of  atoms  which  respond  much 
more  readily  to  the  individual,  is  an  exact  expression  of  what 
the  individual  life  has  been  within.  Yet,  were  this  all,  there 
is  no  harshness  of  judgment  there.  It  is  pitiable  enough  to 
be  deformed  upon  earth  physically,  and  no  one  sees  such  an 
object  without  saying,  '  Poor  thing ! '  So  in  spirit,  when  the 
deformed  and  perverted  soul  lays  off  the  garments  of  earthly 
splendor  that  may  have  been  a  mask,  it  is  enough  that  the 
pitying  angels  say, '  Poor  soul,  for  behold  the  consciousness  of 
deformity  is  its  own  punishment.'  " 

"  All  persons  are  more  or  less  en  rapport  with  the  spirit 
world;  and  their  spirit  friends  know  more  of  the  thoughts 
that  are  directed  against  them  than  they  do  themselves.  For 
instance,  if  any  one  thinks  ill  of  you,  it  immediately  causes  a 
ray  of  light  to  pass  from  them  to  you,  and  your  spirit  friends 
can  tell  by  the  color  of  that  ray  whether  the  thought  is  evil 
or  good.  This  light  is  not  visible  to  all  spirits.  It  depends 
on  their  state  of  development.  All  spirits  above  the  earth- 
plane  can  thus  see  the  thoughts  of  persons  below  them, 
whether  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body.  They  are  not 
affected  by  the  condition  of  the  atmosphere  like  an  electric 
current,  nor  is  there  any  necessity  for  wires  as  a  means  of 
conveying  the  thought.  All  thoughts  are  thus  conveyed  by 
a  ray  of  light  when  persons  think  of  one  another.  This  is 
only  in  accordance  with  the  law  we  have  menrioned,  whereby 
spirits  are  able  to  interpret  the  thoughts  of  those  who  are  in  a 
lower  plane  of  spiritual  development  than  they  themselves.  If 
spirits  on  their  own  level,  embodied  or  disembodied,  think  of 
them^  they  are  aware  of  it ;  but  thoughts  not  directed  toward 
themselves  they  cannot,  in  that  case,  interpret,  excepting  there 
be  a  strong  tie  of  sympathy  between  them  and  the  thinker.  A 
person  in  the  body  may,  of  course^  be  spiritually  on  a  higher 


244  IMMORTALITY. 

plane  than  many  disembodied  spirits ;  in  which  case  the  latter 
are  unable  to  read  his  thoughts,  or  enjoy  his  society,  though 
they  would,  nevertheless,  be  able  to  overhear  his  conversation 
and  spoken  words.  Hence,  if  you  wish  to  avoid  evil  asso- 
ciates from  the  spirit  world,  you  see  how  important  it  is  to 
make  spiritual  progress,  and  thereby  attract  higher  spirit 
friends.  Thus,  as  already  explained,  if  a  man  enters  the 
spirit  world,  he  is  at  once  aware  what  people  think  of  7^m, 
though  he  is  not  aware  what  those  same  people  are  thinking 
of  others,  and,  consequently,  he  cannot  find  any  consolation 
in  the  reflection  that  there  are  other  people  who  are  as  ill- 
thought  of  as  himself.  Every  one  he  meets  thinks  badly  of 
him,  because  they  know  him  to  be  a  bad  man  by  his  personal 
appearance.  His  spiritual  body  and  garments  pronounce  hie 
true  character,  and  they  think  of,  know  him  accordingly." 

"  An  important  peculiarity  in  the  relative  powers  of  the 
higher  and  lower  spirits,  which  we  have  already  alluded 
to,  is  that  the  higher  spirits  are  not  visible  to  those  below 
them ;  whilst  the  former  have  the  power  to  see  all  the  spirits 
on  the  earth-plane.  The  latter,  therefore,  are  ignorant  of  the 
others'  presence,  unless  it  is  desired  to  make  them  aware  of 
the  fact.  Hence,  at  seances^  it  often  happens  that  spirits  are 
present  who  are  unknown  to  one  another,  and  can  only  be 
aware  of  each  other's  presence  by  listening  to  the  communi- 
cations given  through  j^our  mediums.  An  earthl}''  spirit  is 
not  aware  how  many  higher  spirits  are  present,  and  you  are 
not  aware  how  many  earthly  spirits  are  present,  so  that  you 
see  the  latter  have  a  similar  advantage  over  you  to  what  we 
have  over  them.  People  in  the  habit  of  communicating  with 
earthly  spirits  through  those  mediums,  with  whom  only  spirits 
of  this  class  are  connected,  wonder  why  they  only  receive 
messages  from  strangers,  never  from  their  own  relations.  If 
the  latter  are  in  the  Summerland,  or  the  thu-d  sphere,  of 
course  it  is  easily  intelligible ;  for  we  must  explain  to  you 
that  spirits  from  a  higher  sphere  can  only  communicate  with 
yon  through  a  medium  tvho  has  reached  the  same  degree  ofdevel- 


CRTSTAIi  DROPS.  —  FACTS    AND   FANCIES.  245 

opment  as  themselves.  Thus,  you  see,  that  if  you  wish  to  com 
municate  with  the  higher  spirits,  you  must  first  place  yourself 
on  a  spiritual  level  with  them,  otherwise  you  will  never  get 
messages  from  any  spirits  above  the  oarth-plane.  Another 
great  law  of  spirit  communion  is  that  the  higher  spirits  can 
read  the  thoughts  of  the  lower  ones  —  each  sphere,  in  fact, 
comprehending  the  one  below  it." 

"  Do  not  labor  under  the  delusion  that  the  spiritual  world 
is  subject  to  the  same  physical  laws  as  your  own.  This  is  a 
frequent  mistake  with  those  who  come  from  the  earth-plane 
into  the  spirit  world.  They  think  that  it  will  be  dark  every 
twelve  hours,  and  that  they  must  pnwide  against  heat  and 
cold.  This  is  not  the  case.  You  think  that  because  there  is  a 
spiritual  counterpart  to  the  matter  on  the  earth,  that  therefore 
there  is  a  spiritual  counterpart  to  the  gaseous  products  of  the 
earth  ;  but  this  is  not  so,  since  the  gaseous  products  of  matter 
are  themselves  in  the  nature  of  spirit.  Hence  they  are  unable 
to  possess  a  spiritual  counterpart.  We  have,  therefore,  no 
fog,  smoke,  mist,  clouds,  or  other  gaseous  matter  or  vapor. 
There  is  a  spiritual  counterpart  to  water,  but  not  to  rain, 
which  is  vapor,  and  therefore  not  coming  under  our  category 
of  matter;  neither  have  we  any  counterpart  of  fire,  which 
appertains  only  to  your  world.  When  you  read  of  spirits  see- 
ing flames,  vapor,  fog,  &c.,  you  may  assume  that  it  is  entirely 
subjective,  and  denotes  the  inner  condition  of  the  seer.  We  do 
not  perceive  such  appearances,  because  we  belong  to  a  higher 
sphere,  and  therefore  we  say  they  have  no  objective  reality  to 
us.  If  we  wish  to  penetrate  into  the  inner  state  of  unhappy 
spirits,  we  can  see,  by  sympathy,  the  appearances  which  they 
are  cognizant  of.  We  see  your  fires,  it  is  true,  just  as  you  see 
them,  so  far  as  regards  the  materials  they  consume ;  but  the 
products  of  combustion  have  no  existence  in  the  spirit  world, 
neither  do  we  perceive  any  heat  from  the  fire,  or  any  cold 
from  the  frost.  Frozen  water  appears  the  same  to  us  as  to 
you.  Thus  you  see  we  lose  a  great  many  of  the  disagreeables 
as  well  as  the  agreeables  of  your  life.     People  coming  from 


246  EMMOBTALTTY. 

your  side  of  life  find  the  spiritual  world  at  first  very  enjoy- 
able ;  the  change  from  darkness,  fog,  rain,  and  cold,  being 
rather  delightful.  We  speak  here,  of  course,  of  those  who, 
as  before  explained,  see  things  as  they  are,  and  who  are 
not  morally  hallucinated.  They  find  themselves  in  the  same 
locality  they  previously  resided  in,  but  all  is  changed  as  re- 
gards its  climate.  In  their  eyes  the  sky  is  ever  cloudless,  the 
Bun  is  always  shining,  if  not  always  visible  —  for,  of  couree,  it 
disappears  below  the  horizon ;  the  streets  are  free  from  fog, 
smoke,  and  rain;  and  they  feel  neither  thirst  nor  hunger. 
They  soon  miss  the  variety  which  those  changes  of  the  atmos- 
phere afforded,  and,  perhaps,  some  would  have  preferred  the 
old  state  of  things." 

"  There  is  a  spiritual  counterpart  to  all  organized  forms ; 
and  a  spirit,  or  a  circle  of  spirits,  can  reproduce  a  materialized 
counterpart,  that  is,  he  can  temporarily  re-materialize  the 
spiritual  counterpart,  by  the  aid  of  laws  that  you  see  in  oper- 
ation, at  what  is  called  a  materialization  seance^  such  as  have 
been  frequently  witnessed  in  the  presence  of  mediums.  The 
latter  phenomena  are  simply  the  materialization  of  the  spirit 
body  of  persons  who  formerly  lived  on  your  earth  in  the  flesh, 
and  are  enabled  to  re-clothe  themselves  for  the  time  being  in 
matter  borrowed  from  the  mediums  and  the  persons  forming 
the  circle.  When,  therefore,  you  see  a  spirit  form  clothed  in 
white  drapery,  you  may  assume  it  is  an  exact  materialized 
reproduction  of  the  spirit  matter  composing  the  dress  and  body 
of  the  spirit  who  thus  shows  herself  or  himself.  As,  however, 
the  matter  they  are  clothed  in  is  taken  from  the  bodies  of 
persons  in  the  flesh,  —  principally  from  the  medium,  —  it 
has,  at  first,  a  tendency  to  shape  itself  into  forms  resem- 
bling more  or  less  the  person  of  the  medium.  Hence,  every 
spirit  who  thus  re-clothes  himself  or  herself  through  a  new 
medium,  bears  a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  latter  —  a 
circumstance  which  investigators  naturally  regard  as  exceed- 
ingly suspicious.  It  is,  however,  no  more  so  than  the  resem- 
blance which  one  person  bears  to  another,  whose  garments  he 


(JfeTSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS   AND  FANCIES.  247 

may  have  borrowed.     When  the  power  becomes  stronger,  it 
Is  found  that  the  resemblance  to  the  medium  diminishes." 

"  Spirit  communion  is  practised  in  our  world  the  same  as 
with  you,  only  we  obtain  higher  and  more  perfect  mani- 
festations. Should  a  spirit,  who  knows  nothing  of  spirit 
communion,  see  a  messenger  from  a  higher  sphere,  he  is 
unable  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  it,  fancies  he  has 
seen  an  angel,  and  becomes  alarmed,  or  runs  away  with  the 
idea  that  it  is  a  ghost.  This  sounds  very  absurd  to  5-ou,  but 
nevertheless  it  is  true.  There  is  as  much  superstition  and 
bigotry  on  the  subjects  of  spiritualism  and  spirit-communion 
among  spirits,  as  there  is  among  those  in  the  flesh;  nor  is 
it  to  be  wondered  at  when  you  consider  with  what  prejudices 
people  are  sent  out  of  your  world  into  ours,  and  how  little 
change  they  experience  in  their  mode  of  life  and  surround- 
ings. The  spirit  world  is  so  material  to  their  senses,  that 
they  cannot  realize  the  existence  of  spirit  at  all,  still  less  that 
they  themselves  are  spirits. 

"  You  are  mistaken,  therefore,  in  supposing  that  the  highei 
and  lower  spirits  are  intermingled  in  your  thoroughfares,  in  a 
manner  to  be  equally  visible  to  all.  Those  who  are  on  the 
earth-plane  see  only  earthly  spirits;  those  from  a  higher 
sphere  see  both  classes.  It  is  entirely  dependent  on  the 
spiritual  development  of  each  man  how  much  of  the  spirit 
world  and  its  inhabitants  he  sees." 

"  In  a  case  of  the  foundering  of  a  ship,  when  the  passengers 
find  themselves  at  the  bottom  of  the  ocean,  they  rise  at  once, 
as  spirits,  to  the  surface,  by  the  force  of  their  will-power, 
which  involuntarily  induces  them  to  reach  the  surface  again 
as  the  first  thing  to  do.  .  When  there,  and  they  find  their 
ship  is  gone,  they  see  their  situation  at  a  glance,  and  their 
thoughts  natui-ally  revert  to  their  homes  and  friends,  in 
which  direction  they  are  spontaneously  drawn  by  the  force 
of  their  affections,  which  is  sufficient  to  attract  the  spirit-body 
thither.  In  the  case,  however,  of  a  ship  destroyed  by  fire, 
the  persons  who  have  just  been  drowned,  and  must  therefore 


248  IMMORTALITf. 

now  be  called  spirits,  find  themselves,  along  with  the  material 
bodies  they  latel}'  inhabited,  floating  about  in  the  water ;  they 
see  the  ship,  or  rather  its  spiritual  counterpart,  intact,  con- 
Bequentl}"  —  as  it  appears  to  their  spiritual  eyesight  —  the 
same  vessel  they  just  saw  burnt  down.  Since  the  sjiiritual 
ship  is  equally  material  to  their  spiritual  touch,  they  naturally 
conclude  that  they  have  been  washed  overboard,  and  that 
the  fire  was  merely  a  dream,  or  that  it  has  been  put  out ; 
hence  they  wish  themselves  on  board  again.  By  force  of  this 
exercise  of  their  wills  they  soon  find  themselves  there.  They 
then  see  no  difference  between  things  now  and  things  as  they 
were  before,  and  may  go  on  in  the  old  course  of  life,  for  years, 
perhaps,  never  finding  out  that  there  has  been  any  change  in 
their  condition.  They  cannot  reach  the  shore,  because  the 
ship  is  unable  to  approach  the  land,  owing  to  the  strong  mag- 
netic currents  that  sweep  round  the  shores  of  the  spiritual 
counterpart  of  your  ocean,  thus  preventing  all  navigation. 
The  reason  they  do  not  leave  the  vessel  is,  because  their 
thoughts  are  centered  on  it  in  an  unusual  degree.  Those  who 
have  made  a  long  voyage,  know  the  feeling  of  regret  with 
which  they  leave  the  ship  that  has  been  their  home  for  so 
many  months ;  and  this  is  the  same  tie  that  keeps  the  spirit 
tied  to  the  vessel  in  the  case  under  discussion.  The  ship 
becomes  impregnated  with  the  magnetism  of  the  passengers 
and  crew,  and  they  cannot  release  themselves,  in  the  same 
way  that  people  clinging  to  their  old  homes  on  land  may  do, 
because  of  their  being  so  entirely  isolated  from  the  rest  of 
mankind.  They  see  other  ships  pass  them  which  are  nav- 
igated by  men  in  the  body ;  but  the  latter  being  unable  to  see 
them  —  excepting  in  cases  where  some  one  among  the  pas- 
sengers is  clairvoyant  —  take  no  notice  of  them  and  pass  them 
by.  It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  such  a  vessel  might  run 
them  down ;  but  this  could  not  easily  happen,  simply  because 
their  will-power  is  sufificient  to  control  the  movements  of 
their  own  vessel  and  keep  them  out  of  danger,  and  they  are 
never  asleep,  because  they  experience  no  night. 

"  It  is  quite  true,  as  you  say,  that  in  the  case  of  houses 


CRYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  249 

destroyed  by  fire,  we  told  you  that  the  inhabitants  were 
released  by  the  fire  ;  whereas,  in  the  case  of  the  ship,  we  now 
tell  you  that  the  reverse  takes  place." 

"  When  the  house  is  destroyed  by  fire,  the  spirit  has  no 
longer  any  tie  to  the  old  place,  so  he  seeks  another  ;  and  in  so 
doing  he  is  compelled  to  come  more  in  contact  with  his  fellow- 
men,  and  he  learns  that  there  are  other  beings  and  other  inter- 
ests in  the  world  besides  his  own  ;  —  in  short,  he  is  compelled 
to  rouse  himself.  And  hence  it  is  that  a  great  fire  may  be  a 
great  benefit  to  the  spirit  world,  as  it  would  relieve  a  number 
of  unhappy  men  and  women,  who,  in  dwelling  for  years  in 
one  spiritual  atmosphere,  have  been  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses imprisoned.  The  removal  and  rebuilding  of  an  old  house 
may,  of  course,  effect  the  same  object,  but  not  so  completely 
as  a  fire  does ;  for  the  old  materials  are  generally  used  up 
again  elsewhere,  and  the  spirit  inhabitants  are  still  attracted 
to  them." 

**  It  is  often  the  case  that  an  intellectual  man  is  not  happy 
in  the  spirit  world.  We  will  tell  you  why :  The  pursuit  of 
knowledge  is  an  occupation;  and,  as  we  have  previously 
assured  you,  as  long  as  a  person  has  an  occupation,  he  may  be 
more  or  less  happy.  If  he  studies  the  beauties  of  nature  as 
an  artist,  or  traveler,  or  man  of  science,  he  feels  elevated  and 
benefited,  and  may  be  tolerably  happy  for  the  time  being. 
But  in  the  spirit  world,  life  is  so  long  —  being  eternal  —  and 
the  means  of  acquiring  knowledge,  including  the  increased 
facilities  of  locomotion,  are  so  much  greater,  that  a  man  soon 
exhausts  all  that  there  is  for  him  to  see.  He  then  feels  weary 
of  perpetually  going  over  the  same  ground  again,  and  he  finds 
that  he  cannot  make  any  use  of  the  knowledge  he  has 
acquired  with  such  infinite  pains,  now  that  he  has  got  it ; 
hence  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  becomes  unhappy,  and  longs 
for  fresh  scenes  and  pastures  new.  This  is  the  turning-point 
in  his  career.  He  may  have  been  a  very  selfish  man  on  earth, 
—  and  how  many  scientific  men  are  not  so  1     In  any  case  he 


260  IMMORTALITY. 

must  find  a  me»ns  of  imparting  his  knowledge  to  the  world, 
or  he  gains  nothing  bj  his  acquirements ;  and  if  he  did  not 
seek  knowledge  for  some  object  of  gain  to  himself  —  whether 
ambition  or  wealth — he  must  seek  it  for  the  good  of  his  fellow- 
men,  which  is  simply  supposing  him  to  be  possessed  of  the 
love  of  his  kind,  that,  as  already  explained,  would  qualify  him 
to  rise  higher.  If  his  object  has  been  a  selfish  one,  which  is 
also  too  frequently  the  case,  he  is  unhappy  because  he  cannot 
give  his  knowledge  to  the  world,  and  get  the  credit  for  it. 
He  tries,  perhaps,  as  a  spirit,  to  get  an  audience  together  to 
instruct  them,  but  fails ;  because  spirits  on  the  earth-plane  do 
not  care  about  acquiring  knowledge  at  second  hand.  If  they 
have  any  thirst  for  knowledge,  they  can  all  acquire  it  for 
themselves ;  for  the  thirst  for  knowledge  implies  a  will  to 
have  it,  and  that  gives  them  the  power  to  get  it.  This  being 
the  case,  the  scientific  men  are  disappointed  of  the  honor  they 
expected  to  derive  from  their  discoveries,  and  they  hunt  out 
a  medium,  and  try  to  impart  it  through  him  to  your  world; 
but  that  outlet  for  their  overcharged  brains  fails  to  satisfy 
their  ambition  likewise,  since  it  is  the  medium  who  gets  the 
credit  of  anything  that  is  so  given  to  your  skeptical  world. 
His  medium  need  not  be  a  professional,  or  even  be  conscious 
of  possessing  mediumship;  he  may  be  simply  an  ordinary 
scientific  man,  who  is  sufficiently  impressionable  to  receive 
the  thoughts  which  the  spirit  impresses  on  his  brain, —  in  which 
case,  of  course,  he  takes  all  the  credit  of  the  discovery  him- 
self, and,  indeed,  never  finds  out  until  he  gets  into  the  next 
world,  that  all  the  ideas  which  he  thought  were  his  own,  sim- 
ply came  through  his  mind  as  a  channel  for  the  communica- 
tion to  the  material  world,  of  the  ideas  from  another  man, 
who  perhaps  lived  his  earth-life  a  few  years  before  himself. 
Thus,  3^ou  see,  a  man  may  spend  years  in  pursuing  his  favor- 
ite studies  in  the  spirit  world,  and  find  after  all  that  it  is 
mere  '  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit.' 

"  We  will  now  trace  the  career  of  a  man  whose  pursuits  are 
of  a  more  intellectual  and  less  scientific  turn.  He  has,  per- 
haps, been  devoting  his  lifetime  to  the  study  of  metaphysical 


CRYSTAL  DR0P3.  —  FACTS    AND  FANCIES.  251 

problems  of  no  practical  benefit  to  his  fellow-men ;  he  merely 
engages  in  his  studies  as  an  intellectual  amusement,  perhaps 
from  similar  motives  to  those  which  actuated  our  scientifio 
friend,  or,  perhaps,  for  the  sake  of  giving  to  humanity  a  sys- 
tem of  philosophy  which  will  hand  down  to  posterity  his  name 
as  a  philosopher  and  learned  scholar.  Many  men  have  thus 
devoted  a  lifetime  to  metaphysical  hairsplitting,  under  the 
delusion  that  they  were  conferring  a  benefit  on  mankind, 
which,  however,  they  find  out,  when  it  is  to  late,  proves  to  be 
little  more  than  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  We  would  not  have 
you  neglect  your  intellectual  training,  but  we  would  have  you 
understand  that,  although  it  may  afford  you  plenty  of  occupa- 
tion and  pleasure,  it  cannot  give  you  the  happiness  which 
springs  from  a  consciousness  of  having  done  some  good  in  the 
world.  Remember,  therefore,  that  intellectual  acquirements 
will  not  aid  a  man  in  his  spiritual  progress ;  for  a  man  who 
has  none  of  the  love  of  his  fellow-men  in  his  heart  —  be  his 
intellect  what  it  may  —  cannot  rise  so  rapidly  in  the  spirit 
world  as  he  who,  having  less  intellect,  has  more  of  the  love 
element  in  his  composition.  This  explains  how  it  is  that  a 
man  may  be  very  intellectual,  and  yet  not  make  much  prog- 
ress in  the  spirit  world." 

"A  man  should  not  only  be  negatively,  but  he  should  be 
positively,  good.  He  should  go  out  of  his  way  to  do  good. 
His  great  life-motive  should  be  to  help  others ;  and  he  should 
sympathize  with  and  assist  those  occupying  the  lowest  con- 
ditions on  the  earth-plane.  There  are  more  good  men  among 
the  poor  than  among  the  rich.  The  adage,  '  Every  man  for 
himself,'  is  selfish,  and  immoral  in  tendency.  'Do  all  for 
others,'  expressed  in  different  ways,  is  a  precept  old  as 
Epictetus,  old  as  the  moral  lessons  of  Jesus,  old  as  the  nega- 
tively expressed  Golden  Rule  of  Confucius,  old  as  the  more 
highly  inspired  poets  of  antiquity.  Persons  to  be  happy  in 
any  sphere  of  existence,  should  live  lives  of  self-denial.  By 
self-denial  we  mean,  the  sharing  of  our  enjoyments  with 
theirs,  the  suppression  of  self  in  an  overshadowing  remem- 
brance of  and  love  for  others." 


262  /MMORTALITY. 

*♦  Many  persons  think  it  is  not  permissible  to  pray,  but  this 
we  consider  a  popular  delusion  amongst  those  on  earth.  We 
in  spirit  life  pray  for  help  whenever  we  want  it,  let  the  object 
be  what  it  may  ;  but  not  if  it  is  an  evil  object.  In  the  latter 
case,  prayer  certainly  is  undesirable,  for  it  is  the  cause  of 
attracting  to  you  spirits  who  will  aid  you  in  accomplishing 
your  purpose,  perhaps,  but  they  will  only  increase  your 
unhappiness  afterwards ;  for  if  you  have  strong  will-power 
you  are  tempting  them.  On  the  other  hand,  if  you  pray  for 
a  good  object,  you  benefit  the  spirits  whom  you  draw  around 
you.  It  is  good  for  them  to  help  others ;  and  in  helping  you, 
they  help  themselves.  Thus,  you  see,  prayer  is  a  spiritual 
force  which  you  can  put  in  operation  if  you  have  will-power 
enough. 

"It  is  not  necessary  for  a  man  to  pray  before  he  can  be 
helped,  but  it  is  advisable  ;  because,  although  his  spirit  friends 
can  read  his  thoughts  and  understand  his  wants,  he  loses  the 
aid  of  many  others  who  cannot  read  his  thoughts,  but  who 
would  be  attracted  to  him  by  his  prayers,  and  would  help  him 
if  they  knew  he  wanted  help.  If,  however,  he  never  prays, 
they  do  not  know  of  his  needs,  and  they  do  not  help  him. 
Prayer  is  therefore  not  merely  aspiration,  it  is  something  like 
advertising  your  wants.  All  spirits  do  not  see  them,  it  is  true  ; 
but  those  who  can  help  you  are  made  aware  of  your  needs, 
and  are  able  to  assist  you.  You  should,  of  course,  pray  to 
God,  rather  than  to  spirits  directl3^  He  permits  spirits  to 
execute  his  decrees.  You  may  not  know  that  this  is  the  case, 
because  you  do  not  see  God ;  but  we  all  live  under  His  laws, 
and  nothing  can  happen  contrary  to  His  laws ;  consequently, 
whatever  is  done  must  be  done  by  the  Divine  sanction,  and 
to  Him  your  prayers  should  be  addressed.  We  do  not  say 
they  would  be  unanswered  if  addressed  to  spirits.  You  can 
address  your  prayers  to  spirits  if  you  like,  but  it  comes  to  the 
same  thing.  You  call  on  the  spirit  of  God  —  which  dwells  in 
th-eir  souls  as  in  yours  —  to  help  you,  and  that  spirit  re- 
sponds to  your  call.  There  is  therefore  no  disgrace  in  asking 
help  from  spirits.  We  do  not  pray  to  spirits,  but  to  God. 
....  Men  with  the  strongest  wills  will  be  able  to  do  the 


CRYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND   FANCIES.  253 

most  good  or  evil  in  the  world,  because  they  have  tlie  most 
influence  with  their  fellow-men,  which  is  only  another  name 
for  prayer  —  the  exercise  of  an  influence  over  others.  It  does 
not  follow  because  you  are  on  the  earth  that  you  cannot  exer- 
cise an  influence  over  spirits  above  your  own  sphere.  That 
is  a  mistake ;  you  can  exercise  your  power  wherever  it  is 
wanted  —  that  is  to  say,  if  the  object  requires  the  interference 
of  the  highest  spirits,  you  may  get  it.  We  do  not  say  you 
will  get  it,  for,  of  course,  you  might  pray  for  impossible  things, 
and  we  do  not  say  you  will  always  get  what  you  want  in  the 
time  that  you  wish  it.  You  might  wish  for  the  immediate 
conversion  of  the  whole  of  the  spirit  world ;  but  this  prayer 
could  not  be  granted  without  the  aid  of  the  Almighty,  and 
therefore  you  would  have  to  be  subject  to  laws  that  would 
necessitate  3'our  waiting  His  time. 

'"'' By  long Inff,  we  do  not  mean  praying  —  that  is  another 
matter.  Prayer  is  a  more  active  form  of  longing ;  and  what 
we  say  is,  that  if  you  pray  —  that  is,  if  3-ou  ask  for  what  you 
want — (not  necessarily  aloud),  you  have  a  better  chance  of 
getting  it  than  by  keeping  your  longings  to  yourself,  and 
never  expressing  them  in  the  form  of  words.  This  expression 
of  a  longing,  in  the  form  of  words,  addressed  to  some  friend  — 
your  Almighty  Father  it  should  be  —  is  what  we  understand 
by  prayer.  You  think  that  a  man  like  Napoleon  I.  is  not 
likely  ever  to  have  prayed  in  his  life  for  help  to  aid  him  in 
carrying  out  his  plans.  We  happen  to  know  for  a  fact  that 
he  did,  and  that  is  just  why  he  got  such  an  immense  number 
of  adherents  around  him  from  the  spiiit  world.  He  prayed 
constantly,  not  perhaps  aloud.  He  may  not  even  have 
intended  to  pray ;  but  the  mere  mental  utterance  of  a  desire 
that  he  might  succeed  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  a 
prayer. 

"  We  have  told  you  of  the  power  of  prayer.  Now,  let  us 
turn  to  the  power  of  love.  The  one  is  the  counterpart  of  the 
other.  Prayer  asks,  and  love  grants.  If  you  pray  for  that 
which  you  need,  the  measure  of  the  love  which  3'ou  are 
entitled  to  at  the  hands  of  Him  you  pray  to,  is  evidenced  by 
the  response  you  get  to  your  prayer,  be  the  response  favorable 


254  IMMORTALITY. 

or  otherwise.  If  you  pray  to  a  human  being,  the  same  law 
applies.  If  he  loves  you  much,  he  will  respond  readily ;  if 
not,  he  refuses.  Thus  j'ou  see  that  the  law  is  very  simple  in 
its  application  ;  and  in  proportion  as  j'ou  merit  a  reward,  so 
will  that  reward  be  meted  out  to  you.  You  see  this  law  in 
operation  in  every  phase  of  life,  both  in  the  spiritual  and  the 
material  worlds.  With  you  its  application  is  of  daily  occur- 
rence. You  refuse  the  request  of  your  child,  not  because 
you  don't  love  it,  but  because  you  do.  As  spirits,  we  believe 
in  the  potency  and  efiBcacy  of  prayer.  We  know  that  wt 
grow  to  be  like  what  we  aspire  to.  We  delight  to  pour  out 
our  gratitude  to  the  great  All-Father,  and  to  pray  for  assist 
ance  from  holy  ministering  angels.  Matter  is  moved  by  spirit 
Hence  if  you  hear  of  matter  in  tlie  form  of  clothes,  money, 
and  food,  being  sent  to  a  man  in  answer  to  his  prayers,  as  you 
do  in  the  case  of  George  Miiller's  Orphanage,  at  Bristol, 
where  you  have  one  man  providing  by  his  will-power,  or 
prayers,  for  the  wants  of  two  thousand  orphan  children,  you 
have  a  case  simply  of  matter  controlled  by  spirits,  in  the  same 
sense  that  you  have  it  when  you  move  the  chair.  The  modus 
operandi  we  know  to  be  as  follows,  for  we  have  watched  it :  the 
person  praying,  simply  calls  to  his  aid  spirits  —  that  is,  men 
and  women  —  who  sympathize  with  his  work  ;  in  short,  he 
may  be  said  to  advertise  for  them.  The  difference  between 
him  and  others,  who  solicit  your  charitable  contributions,  is 
that  he  advertises  in  the  spiritual  world.  We  have  called  it 
advertising,  simply  to  convey  an  idea  to  your  mind  that  you 
can  comprehend,  bat  in  reality  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind ;  it 
is  an  earnest  appeal  by  spirit  power  to  those  whose  necessities 
require  that  they  should  lend  help  of  this  kind.  Hence 
you  see  it  is  a  mutual  benefit.  '  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive.' " 

"  The  spirit  world,  rather  than  the  physical  world,  is  the 
sphere  of  causes.  Its  baptismal  influences  are  continually 
being  poured  upon  mortals.  All  great  orators  are  inspired; 
all  poets  are  impressed  ;  the  greatest  artists  often  paint  wiser 
than  they  know.     Many  of  the  best  mediums  on  earth  do  not 


C?EYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS  AND   FANCIES.  255 

know  they  are  mediums.  Many  claim  thoughts  and  ideas  aa 
their  own  that  were  simply  transmitted  to  their  sensitive 
brain.  If  a  man  can  sit  down  and  write  off  by  the  hour  with- 
out knowing  what  is  coming  next,  he  must  be  simply  an  im- 
pressional  medium,  let  him  call  himself  what  he  will.  If  he 
has  to  originate  the  thoughts  himself,  and  form  them  into 
words  and  sentences  before  he  can  put  them  down,  he  will 
find  that  it  is  a  much  slower  process  than  he  has  been  accus- 
tomed to.  Should  he  doubt  what  we  have  said,  let  him  beg 
the  question  for  a  moment,  grant  the  existence  of  the  sup- 
posed spirit,  and  ask  the  latter  to  give  him  a  test  of  what  we 
are  saying  by  withdrawing  the  thoughts  from  his  mind. 
Should  he  find,  after  making  such  a  request,  that  he  is  no 
longer  able  to  proceed  during  a  short  interval,  he  may  be  sure 
that  he  is  what  is  called,  in  spiritualist  parlance,  an  impres- 
sional  medium.  We  hope  he  will  not  consider  it  derogatory 
to  his  dignity  to  come  under  such  a  category ;  for,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  all  the  most  brilliant  geniuses  of  any  age  have  been 
such.  They  could  not  have  originated  the  ideas  which  are 
conveyed  by  the  works  of  men  like  Shakespeare,  Spenser, 
Milton,  Dante,  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  others,  unless  the  writers 
01  speakers  had  been  inspired  by  men  from  the  spirit  world. 
This  is  the  secret  of  all  inspiration.  We  see  it  at  work  in 
every-day  life  just  the  same.  From  the  spirit  side  —  seen  be- 
hind the  scenes,  as  it  were  —  the  process  is  so  simple  and 
commonplace  that  he  who  runs  may  read ;  but  with  you  it  is 
of  course  scouted  as  one  of  the  delusions  of  those  weak- 
minded  creatures,  the  Spiritualists.  The  spirit  world  is  toler- 
ant of  your  eccentricities.  We  know  your  weak  points  —  we 
humor  them  —  and  work  away  in  spite  of  it  all.  We  have 
much  to  tell  you  for  your  own  good :  it  makes  us  happy  to 
impart  knowledge ;  hence  we  seek  out,  like  the  scientific  men 
we  have  told  you  of,  an  impressional  mind  amongst  you,  and 
pour  into  his  brain  the  thoughts  which  we  are  full  of.  He 
takes  all  the  credit  of  their  utterance  in  your  world ;  but  as 
it  is  only  temporarily,  we  do  not  mind  it.  When  he  comes 
into  the  spirit  world  he  finds  his  mistake  out,  and  is  obliged 


258  IMMORTALITY. 

to  admit  that  he  is  not  such  a  genius  as  he  thought  he  was. 
Then  he  has  to  take  his  proper  place  in  the  world  of  thought, 
and  perhaps  he  may  be  dissatisfied.  If  so,  he  of  course  be- 
comes unhappy ;  and  until  his  pride  of  intellect  is  subdued, 
he  cannot  rise. 

"  There  are  many  men  in  the  spirit  world  who,  with  you, 
were  considered  great  geniuses,  but  who  are  now  robbed  of 
all  the  splendor  which  was  not  theirs.  If  they  ever  succeed 
in  communicating  through  mediums  with  those  on  the  earth- 
plane,  you  wonder  at  the  trivial  nature  of  their  sentiments, 
and  think,  of  course,  that  the  medium  is  an  impostor,  because 
it  is  clear  that  Burns  or  Shakespeare  could  never  have  written 
such  stuff  as  that.  Alas !  how  are  the  mighty  fallen.  When 
the  spirit  world  reveals  to  them  how  little  they  really  were, 
and  how  useless  have  been  their  attempts  at  self-glorification, 
they  begin  to  be  wiser  and  sadder  men." 

"  Paris,  in  a  state  of  revolution,  might  convey  some  idea  of 
the  spirit  life  in  your  great  cities.  Of  course,  for  some  men 
the  life  they  there  lead  may  have  attractions  that  seem  at  first 
glance  superior  to  the  life  they  led  on  earth.  Paupers  and 
criminals  have  everything  to  gain  by  the  change  from  one 
world  to  the  other.  They  have  nothing  to  lose,  and  they 
leave  nothing  behind  to  regret;  on  the  contrary,  it  would  be 
a  happy  release  for  most  of  them  to  be  free  from  the  necessity 
of  supplying  the  fleeds  of  the  body  had  they  not  to  supply  the 
needs  of  the  spirit  instead.  Most  of  them  have  never  given  a 
thought  to  their  spiritual  welfare  whilst  on  earth,  and,  as  a 
consequence,  they  have  to  begin  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder. 
In  regard  to  material  pleasures,  such  as  appertain  to  the  mate- 
rial body,  they  are  much  better  off;  but  in  regard  to  spiritual 
possessions  they  are  paupers  indeed.  Their  great  object, 
therefore,  is  to  associate  themselves  with  persons  in  the  flesh, 
and  enjoy  over  again,  by  sympathy,  the  pleasures  appertainmg 
to  the  material  body  without  its  penalties.  Having  lost  their 
own  material  bodies,  they  use  the  bodies  of  others  still  in  the 
flesh,  and  incite  the  latter  to  all  kinds  of  drunkenness  and 


CRYSTAL  DROPS. —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  257 

excess,  so  that  they  may  gratify  their  own  bi»se  desires.  In 
your  life  the  principal  aim  is  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  phys- 
ical body,  which  helps  to  build  up  the  spirit  body  within. 
In  our  world  the  principal  object  should  be  to  develop  the 
Boul  that  dwells  in  the  spirit  body ;  for  the  latter  is  not  the 
spiritual  man,  any  more  than  your  body  is  such." 

"  Capital  punishment  is  the  poorest  use  that  a  government 
or  a  state  can  make  of  the  criminal.  The  forced  death  only 
gives  the  individual  a  wider  influence  to  do  evil  if  so  disposed. 
It  is  better  to  reform  men  in  the  earthly  life  than  to  thrust 
them  from  the  gallows  into  our  life ;  and  the  most  sensible 
way  for  you  to  prevent  falsehoods  from  lying  spirits  is  to  stop 
sending  into  our  country  so  many  deceivers  and  egregious 
falsifiers.  Your  systems  of  traflBc  and  trade,  of  deception  and 
hypocrisy,  under  the  name  of  respectability,  have  so  steeped 
them  in  selfish  schemes  and  wrong  acting,  that  it  is  exceed- 
ingly difficult  for  us  to  at  once  give  their  thoughts  and  acts 
an  upward  tendency." 

"  There  are  no  salamanders,  sylphs,  gnomes,  kobolds,  ele- 
mentaries,  and  headless  goblins,  in  the  spirit  world  —  or,  at 
least,  in  our  descensions  into  and  explorations  of  the  lower 
spheres  we  have  never  seen  any.  We  are  inclined  to  think 
that  these  are  distorted  images,  inverted  psychological  presen- 
tations, originating  in  imaginative  and  unbalanced  minds. 
There  may  Le  persons  in  the  magical  lands  of  the  East,  and 
some  few  in  the  West,  who  have  the  power  to  and  do  command 
spirits  by  the  exercise  of  their  wills ;  but  the  spirits  thus  com- 
manded  are  mere  satraps  —  the  misguided  slaves  of  positive 
minds,  who  seek  in  such  commands  the  carrying  out  of  selfish 
sordid  aims.  Angels  invite  gentle,  ministering  spirits'  love; 
but  autocratic  demons,  whether  clothed  in  or  disenthralled  of 
material  vestures,  command  I  How  unlike  Jesus,  who  said: 
'  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest.'  " 

17 


268  IMMORTALITY. 

"  As  spirits  we  are  neither  omniscient  nor  omnipo^nt,  but 
have  our  limitations,  something  as  do  mortal  men  and  women. 
We  can  pass  through  doors  into  your  buildings  without  their 
being  open  for  us ;  we  can  pass  through  what  you  term  solid 
walls  after  accumulated  magnetic  auras  have  been  removed ; 
we  can,  after  a  time,  if  so  desiring  and  willing,  pass  through 
glass.  And  yet  spirits  just  having  entered  into  our  sphere  of 
existence  probably  could  not ;  hence  there  is  wisdom  of  rais- 
ing the  windows  in  the  chambers  of  the  dying.  The  bodies 
of  your  dead  should  not  be  put  upon  and  enveloped  in  ice, 
especially  while  a  portion  of  the  vital  emanations  have  not 
yet  been  withdrawn  preliminary  to  their  assimilation  with  the 
spiritual  body." 

It  may  have  been  noticed  by  you  in  earthly  bodies  that 
the  dying  do  not  weep;  and  let  us  press  upon  you  not  to 
weep  and  lament  aloud  over  and  around  the  dying.  It  im- 
pedes the  action  of  those  processes  necessary  to  the  tranquil 
separation  of  the  spirit  from  the  body.  There  should  be 
calmness  and  trust,  and  softest  strains  of  music  around  the 
pillow  of  the  dying.  What  you  call  death  we  call  birth  — 
the  new  birth  —  a  second  birth  on  to  our  shining  shores  of 
immortality. 

Ancient  spirits,  when  descending  or  approaching  your 
earth,  generally  prefer  not  to  give  their  names ;  they  also  dis- 
like to  have  their  earthly  experiences  referred  to,  for  they  live 
more  in  the  present,  and  the  unfolding  future,  than  in  the 
past.  They  prefer  to  be  reticent.  They  love  deeds  rather 
than  words.  Whether  ancient  or  modern,  spirits  differ  in  the 
power  of  vision  much  as  do  mortals,  the  more  exalted  having 
the  deeper  powers  of  penetration. 

Mrs.  Lutib  Blair  Muedock,  a  gifted  spirit-artist  of  Rock- 
bottom,  Mass.,  said,  under  the  influence  of  her  entrancing 
teachers,  that  the  spirit  world  was  no  far-away  phantom 
land,  out  around  and  about  mortals  as  is  the  atmosphere  they 


0ET8TAL  DBOPS.  —  FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  259 

breathe.  The  lives  of  animals,  insects,  plants,  flowers,  are  all 
in  a  sense  immortal.  Nothing  is  lost  into  annihilation.  Spirits 
have  animals  of  the  higher  orders  so  long  as  they  desire  them. 
But  as  spirits  progress  they  get  beyond  them,  animals  them- 
selves never  getting  beyond  the  sphere  nearest  the  earth. 
Such  insects  as  are  found  in  spirit  life  are  harmless.  .  .  . 

Disease  originates  in  obstructions  and  the  false  relations  of 
the  physical  body.  The  mind  and  the  imagination  both  affect 
the  conditions  of  the  body,  and  often  nervous  diseases  are 
produced  and  intensified  by  the  malice  and  misdirected  mag- 
netisms of  evil  spirits.  .  .  .  Spirit  vision  is  not  infinite ;  and 
yet  we  can  go,  if  we  wish,  into  the  realms  of  exalted  spirits 
and  see  them  ;  but  like  ignorant  persons  in  cultured  and  re- 
fined society,  we  should  be  ill  at  ease,  neither  perceiving  their 
thoughts  nor  understanding  their  language ;  and  hence  we 
should  soon  drift  back  to  our  appropriate  planes.  .  .  .  When 
we  pluck  spirit  flowers  they  do  not  fade.  Remember  that 
every  earthly  flower  has  a  spiritual  counterpart.  But  when 
the  bud  is  removed  from  the  parent  stem  on  earth,  the  spirit 
leaves,  and  the  bud  or  flower  decays ;  while  the  flower  in 
spirit  life  is  composed  wholly  of  spirit  substances,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  spirit  atmosphere  palpitating  with  spirit  life, 
and  therefore  fadeless.  Plucked  spirit  flowers  bear  some  re- 
semblance in  permanency  to  wax  flowers.  .  .  .  Spirits  not 
being  obliged  to  toil  for  the  supply  of  physical  wants,  and 
being  relieved  from  the  temptations  and  annoyances  of  mortal 
life,  do  not  absolutely  retrograde.  The  holy  angels  help  all 
who  desire  it,  finding  their  highest  joy  in  doing  good.  Cow- 
per  says : 

"  Their  lives  and  works 
A  soul  in  all  things,  and  that  soul  is  God," 

Henby  Kiddle,  A.M.,  and  ex-superintendent  of  the  public 
schools  in  the  city  of  New  York,  has  in  his  family  two  excel- 
lent writing  mediums,  a  married  daughter  and  a  son,  whom  I 
should  judge  to  be  about  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Upon  asking  their  controlling  intelligences  certain  ques* 
ions  relating  to  the  states  and  employment  of  those  in  the 


260  IMMORTALITY. 

spirit  world,  I  received  very  satisfactory  answers ;  and  prin. 
cipally  from  the  spirit  Mary  A.  Kiddle,  who  passed  to  the 
higher  life  of  immortality  when  a  child.  I  subjoin  these 
among  others  equally  interesting. 

"  Our  robes  are  the  products  of  our  lives  —  sadly,  badly 
woven  sometimes ;  at  other  times  their  beauties  are  only  of 
heavenly  growth,  and  for  our  celestial  homes.  ...  In  traveling 
our  will  is  our  guide,  governed  by  the  strength  we  possess  — 
that  is,  by  our  spiritual  strength.  This  will  is  holy,  and  gov- 
erned only  by  a  holy  desire,  and  takes  on  an  intensity  of 
power  in  proportion  to  the  fitness  of  the  spirit  to  receive  it. 
We  need  no  vehicles,  since  the  Lord  has  given  us  almost  un- 
limited motion." 

Is  your  spirit-home  within  or  beyond  the  atmosphere  of 
this  earth  ? 

"  Our  home  is  not  connected  with  yours  in  any  way  except 
by  the  ties  of  tenderness  and  affection.  The  two  atmospheres 
are  in  one  sense  distinct;  but  we  can  ever  come  into  yours  in 
an  instant,  when  our  spirit  desires  to  do  so.  We  have  no 
drawbacks.  Love,  our  highest  thought,  takes  us  here,  or 
brings  us  there,  in  the  name  of  God.  But  each  and  every 
sphere  in  itself  is  separate,  though  our  transition  is  easy  from 
one  to  the  other.  It  must  be  remembered  that  what  you  call 
space  has  but  little  to  do  with  us,  and  that  a  state  of  purity 
constitutes  heaven." 

Does  Jesus  Christ  hold  any  especial  relation  to  this  world  ? 

"  He  has  a  never-tiring,  never-absent  care  and  anxiety  for 
each  and  every  moral  being  on  earth,  and  will  never  be  at 
perfect  rest  until  all  are  brought  into  harmony  with  Him 
and  with  the  will  of  the  divine  Father.  .  .  . 

"  All  lives,  even  insects,  are  precious  in  the  sight  of  God, 
and  they  have  their  uses.  Think  of  the  butterfly.  Does  it 
not  show  you  beauties  to  aspire  to?  Just  in  the  same  way 
does  it  bring  to  the  spirits  the  conception  of  and  the  desire 
for  higher  joys.  Every  living  thing  brings  back  again  to  your 
spirit  existence  the  essential  nature  of  its  life  as  it  wa?  in  the 
atmosphere  which  surrounded  you  in  your  earthly  coiiditions 
and  aspirations."  .  .  . 


CEYSTAL  DROPS.  —  FACTS   AND   FAKCIES.  261 

Robert  Dale  Owen,  controlling  the  hand,  said :  "  Spirit 
life  is  far  more  real  and  satisfactory  than  was  life  in  the  body. 
All  have  much  to  learn  when  entering  this  state  of  existence. 
...  I  have  a  spirit  library ;  it  contains  the  essential  thoughts 
of  the  best  authors;  but  I  find  it  difficult  to  explain  these 
things  to  a  mortal.  .  .  . 

"  When  on  earth,  especially  in  my  later  years,  I  held  Jesus 
Christ  as  highest  with  the  highest ;  but  now  I  hold  him  high 
in  harmony  with  the  Highest.  .  .  .  All  is  working  toward  good 
in  the  end,  and  leading  to  the  righteous  will  of  the  Father. 
The  seeming  delay  is  occasioned  by  the  stubbornness  of  a 
generation  following  their  own  perverted  wills,  and  not  tend- 
ing toward  right  and  justice,  and  that  sympathy  that  should 
flow  like  a  river.  Final  peace  will  come,  and  all  will  be  one 
body  in  Christ,  and  Christ  in  God." 


Several  paragraphs  in  this  last  chapter,  though  marked  with  quotation  points,  wero 
taken  from  a  pamphlet  by  Fred  A.  Binney,  of  San  Diego,  Cal. 


262  IMMOBTALITT. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE    TWO    THEOBIES    CONCERNING    THE    BEQINOTNGS    OF 
THINGS  —  MATTER  AND  SPIRIT. 

"  I  wonder  if  this  ia  the  way 
We  wake  from  Death's  short  sleep,  to-struggle  through 
A  hrief  bewilderment,  and,  in  dismay, 
Behold  our  life  unto  our  old  life  true."         Thb  Indkpendbkt. 

The  pine  differs  no  more  from  the  palm  than  does  the 
Western  from  the  Oriental  mind.  The  one,  materialistic  in 
tendency,  postulates  everything  in  matter  —  builds  upon  it 
—  sees  in  it  the  potencies  and  possibilities  of  all  things,  and 
believes  the  immortal  soul,  with  its  attributes  of  will,  affec- 
tion, and  spiritual  aspiration,  to  have  been  evolved  out  of 
matter,  the  principal  attribute  of  which  is  inertia. 

The  Western  mind,  considered  more  scientific,  more  induc- 
tive, reasons  from  the  circumference  toward  the  center  by 
analysis.  It  observes  and  studies  the  shells  of  things ;  it 
sneers  at  metaphysics  while  using  metaphysics  to  define,  and 
seeks  to  build  philosophies  from  surface  facts  and  effects 
rather  than  from  axiomatic  truths  deducible  from  conscious- 
ness, intuition,  and  the  immutable  principles  of  the  universe. 

The  Oriental  mind,  and  to  my  conce^jtion  the  more  philo- 
sophical of  the  two,  commencing  with  consciousness,  reasons 
from  the  center  toward  the  circumference  by  the  synthetic 
process.  It  starts  out  from  the  ego.  It  reflects  upon  causes.  It 
studies  the  soul  of  things.  Probing  beneath  the  diversity  of 
visible  forms,  it  can  only  rest  in  the  Unity  and  Causation  which 
are  before  all,  in  all,  and  embracing  all.  It  relies  more  upon 
the  facts  of  consciousness  than  upon  inferences  drawn  from 
the  observation  of  material  phenomena.  Professor  Eccles  says 
that  "  Our  only  assurance  of  the  existence  of  anything  out- 


MATTER   AND  SPIRIT.  263 

«ide  of  ourselves  is  the  effect  produced  on  consciousness.  If 
the  perceiving  consciousness  is  not  real,  how  can  we  assert 
that  the  perceived  matter  is  ?  Action  and  reaction  are  equal 
and  opposite.  If  consciousness  has  not  persistence  and  per- 
manence of  its  own,  how  can  it  gauge  persistence  and  perma- 
nence in  matter  and  energy  ?  But  for  consciousness  we  could 
know  of  the  existence  of  nothing  else.  Is  it  logical  to 
claim  that  our  conclusions  are  permanent  and  real,  while 
asserting  that  our  premises  are  unsubstantial  and  unreal  ?  " 

The  Oriental  mind,  considering  substance  as  atomic,  en- 
ergy as  rhythmic,  and  consciousness  as  individualized  and 
eternal,  and  given  to  pure  thinking,  arrived,  several  thousand 
years  ago,  to  similar  conclusions,  to  which  the  latest  results 
of  scientific  research  are  vaguely  hinting,  namely,  that  mate- 
rial nature  and  material  phenomena  rest  on  a  basis  of  spiritual 
unity  —  that  all  things  proceed  from  and  depend  upon  one 
Central  Fountain  of  Absolute  Intelligence.  In  proof  of  this 
see  the  late  published  conclusions  of  "William  Crooks,  Max- 
well, and  Lockyer.  And  yet  physicists,  and,  I  regret  to  say, 
some  few  spiritualists  uot  abreast  of  the  age,  conclude  that 
intelligence  results  from  organization  —  that  life  originates 
from  dead  matter,  and  that  conscious,  thinking  souls  are 
evolved  from  unthinking  atoms,  and  their  molecular  combi- 
nations. 

The  point  from  whence  the  scientist  starts  is  a  nebulous 
chaos,  and  from  this  basis  he  strives  to  trace  the  unfolding 
order  of  creation  in  its  ascent  toward  spirit,  by  processes  of 
evolution.  He  assumes  that  thought,  intelligence  —  ay,  God 
Himself,  was  evolved  out  of  this  nebulous  ocean  of  material 
fire-mist. 

The  converse  order  postulates  spirit,  that  is  to  say,  Abso- 
lute Intelligence,  as  the  center  and  emerging  starting-point 
of  all  sensuous  phenomena 

At  the  point  where  the  physicist  commences  his  observa- 
tions —  the  chaos  —  half  the  riddle  has  been  solved,  half 
the  work  of  creation  has  been  completed.  Evolution  is  the 
correlate  of  Involution,  and  failing  to  see  the  principle  of 


264  IMMORTALITY. 

iuvolution,  he  is  only  prepared  to  note  the  emergence  of 
order  as  it  is  displayed  in  the  visible  creation.  He  has  dealt 
with  but  one  half  of  the  circle. 

The  method  of  creation  is  dual;  it  proceeds  from  centers 
to  circumferences  by  involiitiolu  and  from  circumferences  to 
centers  by  evolution.  The  question  of  the  hour  is,  which  has 
priority  in  the  actual  procedure,  spirit  or  matter  —  active 
intelligence  or  passive  matter  ? 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  the  ultimate  atom  of  the 
chemist  has  never  been  seen  ;  its  very  existence  is  hypotheti- 
cal —  it  is  the  unknowable  I  We  form  some  notion  of  it 
from  its  behavior,  and  by  experimenting  with  its  transient 
manifestations. 

It  must  seem  clear  to  the  solid  thinker  that  the  material 
plane,  the  outlying  chaos  embraced  by  primitive  matter,  is 
not  the  primal  cause  of  order,  not  the  original  center  from 
which  the  complex  kingdoms  of  life  are  distributed ;  but  this 
material  chaos  —  this  protoplasmic  substance — was  the  con- 
tinent, the  ground-work,  the  passive  recipient,  in  which  were 
sown  all  types,  all  architypal  germs,  through  the  medium  of 
which  the  Divine  Spirit  gave  to  matter  shape,  weaving  from 
material  essences  the  vestures  with  which  to  clothe  the  souls 
of  men  and  of  worlds  in  objective  vehicles. 

It  is  no  more  logically  impossible  for  an  effect  to  exceed  its 
cause,  for  a  stream  to  rise  above  its  fountain,  than  for  quadru- 
manous  animals  to  produce  men,  bodies  to  produce  souls,  and 
protoplasmic  substances — alias  dead  matter  —  to  produce  the 
organic  kingdoms  of  life,  without  an  intelligent  life-principle, 
—  the  all-directing  mind  of  God. 

I  honor  star-eyed  science ;  I  sit  reverently  at  the  feet  of 
such  Gamaliels  as  Agassiz,  Dana,  Dawson,  Virchow,  Cuvier, 
Owen,  Zollner,  Quatrefages,  Professor  Wyville  Thomson,  and 
others,  constituting  a  galaxy  of  glorious  minds,  who  see  in 
matter  the  footprints  of  a  Divine  Wisdom,  and  read  the 
soul's  immortality  in  the  visible  images  of  creation.  But 
from  the  conclusions  of  pseudo-scientists,  who,  ignoring  God, 
see  in  matter  and  molecular  forces  the  origin  of  motion,  sensa- 


MATTER  AND   SPEBIT.  205 

tion,  intelligence,  all  that  is  —  and  all  returning  to  matter, 
and  consequently  chaos,  again,  —  from  these  I  utterly  dissent. 
Here  follow  some  of  their  teachings : 

"  In  itself  it  is  of  little  moment  -whether  we  express  the  phenomeua  of  matter  in 
terms  of  spirit,  or  the  phenomena  of  spirit  in  terms  of  matter;  matter  may  be 
regarded  as  a  form  of  thoug:ht ;  thought  may  be  regarded  as  a  property  of  matter,' 
&c.  —  Tluxley. 

"All  the  natural  bodies  with  which  we  are  acquainted  are  equally  living.  .  .  .  "When 
a  stone  which  is  thrown  into  the  air  falls  again  to  the  earth  according  to  definite  laws ; 
when  a  crystal  is  formed  from  a  saline  fluid ;  when  sulphur  and  mercury  unite  to  form 
cinnabar ;— these  facts  are  neither  more  nor  less  mechanical  life-phenomena  than  the 
growth  and  flowering  of  plants,  than  the  propagation  and  sensory  faculties  of  animals, 
or  the  perceptions  and  intelligence  of  man." —  Ilacckel. 

"  These  modes  of  the  unknowable,  which  we  call  motion,  heat,  light,  chemical 
aflSnity,  &c.,  are  alike  transformable  into  each  other,  and  into  those  modes  of  the 
unknowable  which  we  distinguish  as  sensation,  motion,  and  thought.  .  .  .  IIow  this 
metamorphosis  takes  place  —  how  a  force  existing  as  motion,  heat,  or  light  can  become 
a  mode  of  consciousiiess,  it  is  impossible  to  fathom."  —  Speiicer, 

•'Just  as  the  liver  secretes  bile  and  the  kidneys  mind,  so  the  brain  secretes 
thought."—  CarlVogt. 

"  Without  phosphorus  there  is  na thought."  —  Moleschott. 

"The  same  force  which  digests  by  the  stomach  thinks  by  the  brain." — Friederich. 

"  Gralvanism  is  the  principle  of  life.  ...  A  galvanic  pile  pounded  into  atoms  must 
become  alive.    In  this  manner  nature  brings  forth  organic  bodies."  —  Oken. 

"  In  the  interests  of  scientific  clearness,  I  object  to  say  that  I  have  a  soul,  when  I 
mean  all  the  while  that  my  organism  has  certain  mental  functions,  which,  like  the 
rest,  are  dependent  on  its  molecular  composition,  and  come  to  an  end  when  I  die ;  and 
I  object  still  more  to  afl5rm  that  I  look  to  the  future  life,  when  all  I  mean  is  that  the 
influence  of  my  doings  and  sajings  will  be  more  or  less  felt  by  a  number  of  people 
after  the  physical  components  of  that  organism  are  scattered  to  the  four  winds."  — 
Tluxley  to  Agassiz. 

"  What  is  mind  but  an  evolved  condition  or  form  of  the  powers  of  Nature,  like 
light,  heat,  magnetism  ?  What  are  the  instincts  of  animals  and  the  mind  of  man  but 
B  result  of  chemical  action  or  material  processes  ?  "-—Atkinson. 

"Matter  is  the  origin  of  all  that  exists;  all  natural  and  mental  forces  are  inherent 
In  it."  —  Bilchner. 

"  Matter  contained  all  the  attributes,  characteristics,  essential  qualities,  and  pecu- 
liar combinations  which  the  whole  Univercoilum  manifests.  .  .  .  Matter  and  motion 
are  co-eternal  principles,  established  by  virtue  of  their  own  nature ;  and  they  were  the 
germ,  containing  all  properties,  all  essences,  all  principles,  to  produce  all  other  forms 
and  spheres  that  ai'e  now  known  to  be  existing.  ...  As  matter  contains  the  essence 
and  properties  to  produce  man,  as  a  progi-essive  ultimate,  so  motion  contains  the 
properties  to  produce  life  and  sensation.  These  together,  and  perfectly  organized, 
develop  the  principle  of  Spirit.  ...  To  me  the  grosser  matter  is  impelling  the  rart 


266  BIMORTALITY. 

•nd  refined ;  whfle  the  rare  and  refined  is  pei-vadin^  the  grosser.  .  .  .  AH  citimataff 
to  me  are  still  matter,  ...  It  is  a  law  of  matter  to  produce  its  ultimate,  mind."— 
A.  J.  Davis. 

As  well  attempt  to  heat  an  oven  with  snowballs,  as  to 
expect  to  get  either  intelligence  or  morality  out  of  force  or 
motion ;  and  for  the  reason  that  no  morality,  intelligence,  or 
wisdom  inhere,  as  properties,  in  matter,  motion,  or  blind  force. 
It  is  impossible  for  matter  to  impart  what  it  does  not  possess. 
And  so  far  as  this  class  of  writers  put  life,  sensation,  and  moral 
intelligence  into  matter,  just  so  far  do  they  give  up  their 
position  that  mind  is  the  flower  of  matter,  that  the  mortal 
originates  the  immortal  spirit,  or  that  a  law  of  matter  can 
produce  the  conscious  soul.  These  frigid  and  unphilosophi- 
cal  notions  remind  me  of  what  the  learned  Cudworth  says : 

"  It  has  ever  been  the  misfoitune  of  the  mere  materialist,  in  his  mania  for  matter  on 
the  one  hand  and  dread  of  ideas  on  the  other,  to  invert  nature's  order,  and  thus  hang 
the  world's  picture  as  a  man  with  his  heels  upwards." 

Contrasted  with  inductive  thinkers,  who  make  Matter  and 
Force  the  summum-honum  of  all  things,  we  turn  with  delight 
to  Plato  and  Socrates,  Proclus  and  Jesus,  Swedenborg  and 
Selden  J.  Finne)%  —  great  inspired  souls,  who  saw  a  universe 
ablaze  with  God,  aflame  with  essential  spirit,  and  a  guiding, 
moulding  Intelligence.  Swedenborg  declares  that,  "  There 
is  one  sole  Essence,  one  sole  Substance,  and  one  sole  Form, 
the  Divine,  from  which  are  all  essences,  substances,  and  forms 
that  are  created."  Hegel  teaches  that  "  the  substratum 
underlying  all  phenomenal  existence,  is  God,  the  Infinite 
Being." 

"  The  silver-threaded  chords  of  being  run 

Down  from  God's  throne. 
Through  the  whole  universe,  from  sun  to  sun. 

From  zone  to  zone ; 
And  the  same  life  in  human  bosoms  thrills 

^Vhich  guides  the  spheres,  and  clothes  the  verdant  hiTls." 

•*  Life  is  not  resultant  from  organic  form. 
But  flows  through  all  and  fashions  them ;  and 
They  are  coins,  deep  printed  with  the  Eternal  Name.** 

••  Matter  and  motion  are 
Besults  of  Truth  and  Lotc 


MATTER   AND   SPIRIT.  267 

From  Love  prcceedeth  force. 

From  Truth  unfoldeth  form 

These  make  the  uniyerse  j 

And  matter  is  the  type 

Of  Wisdom  in  its  forms ; 

And  Motion  is  the  type 

Of  living  Love,  that  flows 

With  infinite  desire 

Into  created  things."  T.  L.  Habris. 

That  deductive  thinker,  Seldeu  J.  Finney,  one  of  tlie  most 
brilliant  minds  in  the  ranks  of  Spiritualists,  observes  that ; 

"  If  infinite  mind  evolved  the  physical  universe,  then  mind 
first  became  body,  physics.  If  mind  becomes  body,  form, 
*  matter,'  it  must  do  so  by  descent,  precipitation,  condensation. 
....  Infinite  mind  descends  into  '  creation,'  its  body  and 
chronology,  only  by  *  materialization '  of  what  was  at  first 
pure  spirit;  it  ascends  through  the  spiritualization  of  body 
again  into  pure  reason,  pure  spirit.  The  two  processes  are 
equivalent  and  correlative." 

Dana,  our  great  geologist  and  mineralogist,  says  in  the 
American  Journcd  of  Science  and  Arts : 

"For  the  development  of  man  gifted  with  high  reason  and 
will,  and  thus  made  a  power  above  nature,  there  was  required, 
as  A.  R.  Wallace  has  urged,  a  special  act  of  a  Being  above 
nature,  whose  Supreme  Will  is  not  only  the  source  of  natural 
law,  but  the  working-force  of  nature  herself,  —  this  I  still 
hold." 

It  is  the  soul  that  constitutes  the  man,  and  finite  man  bears 
a  similar  relation  to  God,  the  Infinite  Personalit}^  that  a 
crystal  drop  bears  to  a  perpetual  fountain.  This  is  the  root- 
thought  of  pre-existence.  Terms  must  not  be  confounded. 
There  is  a  wide  distinction  between  personality  and  individu- 
ality ;  the  former  relates  to  God,  and  draws  its  life  directly 
from  God,  while  the  latter  bears  more  upon  self,  is  confined 
more  to  the  special,  to  the  body  and  its  functions.  Personal- 
ity is  both  particular  and  universal ;  particular,  in  that  the 
soul  has  a  conscious  identity ;  universal,  in  the  sense  that  it 
participates  in  the  life  of  God,  and  is  one  with  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man.    Individuality,  on  the  other  hand^  knows 


268  EVDIORTALirY. 

nothing  of  the  universal,  neither  of  brotherhood,  any  further 
than  it  can  make  other  individuals  serve  itself.  Self,  and 
what  can  be  appropriated  to  self,  is  the  limit  of  its  sphere. 

If  man  was  once  nothing  in  the  sense  of  a  conscious  entity, 
he  would  have  eternally  remained  in  utter  nothingness  unless 
something  —  unless  a  conscious  somebody  may  be  originated 
from,  and  brought  into  active  existence  out  of  nothing  — 
which  is  tantamount  to  saying  —  something  from  nothing; 
somebody  from  nobody  !  personalitj'-  from  nonentity. 

It  is  very  clear  to  profound  thinkers  that  once  in  existence 
as  divine  man,  always  in  existence.  The  converse  is  equally 
true:  once  absolutel}' oitf  of  existence,  never  in  existence  I 
This  logical  bulwark  has  never  been  successfully  assailed  by 
materialists. 

In  the  phrase,  once  in  existence,  always  in  existence,  I  am 
referring  to  conscious,  or  rather  to  divine  man,  and  not  to 
sticks  and  stones,  nor  to  animals  and  stinging  insects.  These 
are  fragments  —  imperfect  structures  —  unfinished  temples. 
And  no  one  gifted  with  intelligence  speaks  of  a  conscious 
rock  —  a  divine  wolf,  or  a  righteous  dog.  These  are  not,  and 
never  were  in  existence  as  consciously  rational  and  morally 
progress.ive  beings.  They  have  not  the  Spiritual  Keystone. 
They  are  not  religious ;  neither  are  they  conscious  of  their 
subordinate  consciousness  I  And  certainly,  no  logician  ever 
affirms  of  a  part  what  he  does  of  a  whole.  A  slice,  slashed 
from  a  golden  orange,  thin,  irregular,  ill-shapen,  and  seedless, 
is  not  equal  to,  nor  should  it  be  compared  with  the  well- 
rounded  orange.  Animals,  serpents,  and  noxious  insects  are 
but  parts,  bearing  the  same  relation  to  man  that  passing 
thoughts  bear  to  ideas,  or  shadows  to  substances.  Animals 
and  insects  were  never  in  existence,  as  perfect  structures,  as 
divine  entities;  but  rather  as  fleeting  organisms  serving  tem- 
porary uses. 

The  problem  of  pre-existence  is  included  in  the  provinces 
of  mental  science,  metaphysics,  and  religion,  rather  than  in 
that  of  the  physical  sciences.  Science  may  afford  important 
aid  by  revealing  the  laws  of  movement ;  but  its  sphere  being 


MATTER   AXD   SPIBIT.  269 

limited  to  the  order  and  sequence  of  phenomena,  it  can  never 
reveal  the  nature  of  things  in  themselves. 

Herbert  Spencer  well  remarks,  that  the  value  of  an  opinion 
is  to  be  found  in  the  degree  of  its  persistence.*  For  example, 
the  ideas  of  God,  the  soul's  immortality,  and  a  heaven  of 
blessedness,  have  survived  empires,  thrones,  and  races.  They 
may  be  accepted,  therefore,  as  foreshadowings,  or  rather  as 
the  synonyms  of  ultimate  verities.  And  so  the  belief  in  pre- 
existence  is  not  merely  an  occasional  opinion  of  antiquity,  but 
is  as  ancient  and  persistent  as  the  beliefs  in  God  and  a  future 
existence. 

Many  of  the  most  enlightened  minds  of  all'  ages  and 
countries  have  taught  that  man's   conscious  selfhood  is  as 

•  Professor  ■William  Kniglit,  of  St.  Andrews,  Edinburgh  University,  in  a  very  able 
essay,  published  in  the  Fortnighthj  Review,  thus  speaks  of  the  doctrine  of  pre-exist- 
cnce.  "  Its  root,"  says  he,  "  is  the  indestnictibilit_v  of  the  vital  principle.  Let  a  belief 
in  pre-existence  be  joined  to  that  of  posthumous  existence,  and  the  dogma  is  complete. 
It  is  thus  at  one  and  the  same  time  a  theory  of  the  soul's  origin  and  of  its  destination, 
and  its  unparalleled  hold  upon  the  human  race  may  be  explained  in  part  by  the  fact 
of  its  combining  both  in  a  single  doctrine.  ...  It  is  probably  the  most  wide-spread 
and  permanently  influential  of  all  speculative  theories  as  to  the  origin  and  destiny  of 
the  soul.  ...  It  has  lain  at  the  heart  of  all  Indian  speculation  on  the  subject,  time  out 
of  mind.  It  is  one  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Vcdas,  one  of  the  roots  of  Buddhist 
belief.  The  ancient  Egyptians  held  it.  In  Persia  it  colored  the  whole  stream  of  Zoro- 
astrian  thought.  The  ilagi  taught  it.  The  Jews  brought  it  with  them  from  the  cap- 
tivity  in  Babylon.  Many  of  the  Essenes  and  Pharisees  held  it.  .  .  .  The  Apocrypha 
sanctions  it,  and  it  is  to  be  found  scattered  throughout  the  Talmud.  In  Greece,  Py- 
thagoras proclaimed  it;  Empcdoclcs  taught  it;  Plato  worked  it  elaborately  out,  not  as 
a  mythical  doctrine  embodying  a  moral  truth,  but  as  a  philosophical  theory  or  convic- 
tion. It  passed  over  into  the  Neo-Platonic  school  at  Alexandria.  Philo  held  it.  Plo- 
tinus  and  Poi-phyry  in  the  third  century,  Jamblichus  in  the  fourth,  Hieroclcs  and 
Proclus  in  the  fifth,  all  advocated  it  in  various  ways.  Many  of  the  fathers  of  the 
Christian  Church  espoused  it,  notably  Origen.  It  was  one  of  the  Gnostic  doctrines. 
The  Manichcans  received  it,  whh  much  else,  from  their  Zoroastrine  predecessors.  It 
was  held  by  Nemesius,  who  empliatically  declares  that  all  the  Greeks  who  believe  in 
immortality  believe  also  in  metempsychosis.  There  are  hints  of  it  in  Boethius.  It 
was  defended  with  much  learning  and  acuteness  by  several  of  the  Cambridge  Platon- 
ists,  especially  by  Henry  More.  Glanvill  devotes  a  curious  treatise  to  it,  the  Lux  Grir 
entalis ;  English  clergy  and  Irish  bishops  were  found  ready  to  espouse  it.  Poets, 
from  Hemy  Vaughn  to  Wordsworth,  praise  it.  It  won  the  passing  suffrage  of  Hume, 
as  more  rational  than  the  rival  theories  of  Creation  and  Traduction.  It  was  held  by 
Swedenborg,  and  it  has  points  of  contact  with  the  anthropology  of  Kant  and  Schelling. 
It  found  an  earnest  advocate  in  Lessing.  Herder  also  maintained  it,  while  it  fasci- 
nated the  minds  of  Fourier  and  Leroux.  Soame  Jenyus,  the  Chevalier  BAmsay,  aiid 
Mr.  Edward  Cox  have  written  in  its  defence. 


270  IMMORTALITY. 

much  a  matter  of  the  past  as  it  is  to  be  of  the  future.  The 
proofs  of  this  rest  more  upon  axioms,  intuitions,  spiritual  cog- 
nitions, direct  revelations  from  angels  and  exalted  spirits,  to 
prophets,  poets,  and  the  seers  of  the  ages,  than  upon  evi- 
dences addressed  to  the  senses  or  to  the  didactic  faculty. 

Plato  says  that : 

'"'•  In  the  perpetual  circle  of  nature,  the  living  are  mado 
out  of  the  dead  as  well  as  the  dead  out  of  the  living.  Death 
is  a  nativity  into  life ;  and  what  is  called  generation,  is  a 
sinking  into  death." 

An  eminent  EnglLsh  writer  remarks,  "  that  this  doctrine,  in 
some  of  its  different  forms,  is  at  once  the  doctrine  taught  in 
the  Divine  Apocalypse,  in  the  books  of  Enoch,  and  Fohi,  in 
Bhaga-Vad-Geeta,  in  the  teachings  of  the  Celtic  Druids,  and 
in  the  lore  of  the  old  Babylonians  and  the  Egyptians." 

The  Magi  of  Persia,  in  the  past,  as  well  as  the  Buddhists 
of  the  present,  believed  in  the  pre-existent  state  of  the  soul. 

Pythagoras,  the  founder  of  the  Italic  school  of  Greek  philos- 
ophy, not  only  taught  pre-existence,  but  professed  to  have  a 
distinct  remembrance  of  it. 

Plato  believed  that  all  the  knowledge  of  laws  and  prin- 
ciples we  acquire  in  this  world  is  simply  a  recovery  of  reminis- 
cence of  knowledge  which  the  soul  possessed  in  a  previous 
state  of  existence.  Readers  of  Plato  will  remember  the  refer- 
ence to  "  Meno,"  where  Plato  introduces  Socrates  as  making 
an  experiment,  by  way  of  putting  a  series  of  questions  to  a 
slave  of  Meno,  eliciting  from  the  uneducated  youth  a  geomet- 
rical truth.  This  done,  Socrates  triumphantly  observed  to 
Meno,  "I  have  not  taught  the  youth  anything;  but  simply 
interrogating  him,  he  recalled  the  knowledge  he  had  in  a  pre- 
vious existence."  Plato  further  taught  that  all  ideas,  types, 
and  ultimate  forms  both  precede  and  succeed  their  material 
embodiments. 

Ammonius  Saccas,  founder  of  that  school  of  eclectic  philos- 
ophy known  as  New  Platonism,  and  among  whose  disciples 
were  Longinus  and  Origen,  was  a  behever  in  pre-existence. 

Plotinus,  an  emiient  Greek  philosopher,  an  adept  in  the 


MATTEB  AND  SPIBIT.  271 

doctrines  of  the  Oriental  sages,  and  a  teacher  of  philosophy 
at  Rome  from  245  A.  D.  until  his  death,  was  an  advocate  of 
pre-existence. 

Proclus,  a  student  of  Olympi-o-dorns,  at  Alexandria,  a^id 
for  a  time  at  the  head  of  the  New  Platonic  schools,  believed 
in  pre-existence. 

Apollonius,  of  Tyanna,  a  Pythagorean  philosopher  of  the 
first  century,  venerated  for  his  wisdom  by  his  contemporaries, 
and  whose  thrillingly  interesting  life  was  written  by  Flaviua 
Phil-os-tratus,  was  a  believer  in  and  teacher  of  pre-exist- 
ence. 

Leibnitz,  the  most  profound  philosopher  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  held  the  doctrine  of  pre-existence  as  one  of  his  car- 
dinal beliefs. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  makes  this  observation :  "  How  often  do 
we  find  ourselves  in  society  which  we  have  never  before  met, 
and  yet  feel  impressed  with  a  mysterious  and  ill-defined  con- 
sciousness that  neither  the  scene,  the  speakers,  nor  the  sub- 
ject are  entirely  new  ;  nay,  feel  as  if  we  could  anticipate 
that  part  of  the  conversation  which  has  not  yet  taken  place !  " 

In  his  diary  he  further  says :  "  I  cannot,  I  am  sure,  tell  if 
it  is  worth  marking  down,  that  yesterday,  at  dinner-time,  I 
was  strongly  haunted  by  what  I  would  call  the  sense  of  pre- 
existence,  in  a  confirmed  idea  that  nothing  which  passed  was 
said  for  the  first  time;  that  the  same  topics  had  been  dis- 
cussed, and  the  same  persons  had  stated  the  same  opinions  on 
them.  .  .  .  The  sensation  was  so  strong  as  to  resemble  what 
is  called  mirage  in  the  desert,  or  a  calenture  on  board  a  ship. 
...  It  was  very  distressing  yesterday,  and  brought  to  my 
mind  the  fancies  of  Bishop  Berkeley  about  an  ideal 
world." 

Sir  Bulwer  Lytton  thus  notices  this  soul-intuition :  "  How 
strange  it  is  that  at  times  a  feeling  comes  over  us,  as  we  gaze 
upon  certain  places,  which  associates  the  scene  either  with 
some  disremembered  and  dream-Like  images  of  the  past,  or 
with  a  prophetic  and  fearful  omen  of  the  future  I  .  .  .  Every 
one  has  known  a  similar  strange,  indistinct  feeling,  at  certain 


272  IMMORTALITY. 

times  and  places,  and  with  a  similar  inability  to  trace  the 
cause." 

Sir  S.  C.  Groom  Napier,  one  of  England's  cleverest  think- 
ers, is  as  firm  an  advocate  of  pre-existence  as  are  Charles 
and  Edward  Beecher  of  America. 

The  doctrine  of  pre-existence  was  a  fundamental  one  with 
Jesus  Christ.     These  are  among  his  divine  teachings. 

"  For  thou  didst  love  me  before  the  foundation  of  the 
world."  .  .  . 

"  O  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self,  with  the 
glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was."  .  .  . 

*'  What,  and  if  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascend  up 
<rhere  he  was  before."  .  .  . 

"  I  came  forth  from  the  Father,  and  am  come  into  the 
world;  again  I  leave  the  world,  and  go  to  the  Father." 

"  No  man  hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came 
down  from  heaven." 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  before  Abraham  was, 
I  am." 

•*  And  now,  O  Father,  glorify  thou  me  with  thine  own  self, 
with  the  glory  which  I  had  with  thee  before  the  world  was ; 
...  for  thou  lovedst  me  before  the  foundation  of  the  world." 

Plato  emphatically  declares  — "  Our  soul  was  something 
before  it  came  to  exist  in  this  present  human  form,  whence  it 
appears  to  be  immortal,  and  as  such  it  will  subsist  for  ever 
after  death." 

Empedocles,  cherishing  opinions  similar  to  Plato's,  assures 
us  that  —  "There  is  no  production,  or  anything,  which  was 
not  before ;  no  new  substance  made  which  did  not  really 
pre-exist;  therefore,  in  the  generations  and  corruptions  of 
inanimate  bodies,  there  is  no  form  or  quality  really  distinct 
from  the  substance  produced  and  destroyed,  but  only  a  various 
composition,  and  modification  of  matter.  But  in  the  gener- 
ation and  corruption  of  men,  where  the  souls  are  substances 
really  distinct  from  the  matter,  there  is  nothing  but  the  con- 
junction and  separation  of  souls,  and  particular  bodies  exist- 
ing, both  before  and  after;   not  the  production  of  any  new 


MATTBB  Am)  SPIRIT.  278 

Boul  into  being,  which  was  not  before,  nor  the  absolute  death, 
and  destruction  of  anything  into  nothing." 

Poets  and  prophets,  being  inspired,  they  get  down  to  the 
very  soul  of  realities,  and  I  am  proud  to  state  that  the 
world's  great  poets  have  taught  pre-existence.  Tennyson 
thus  sings : 

•*  Moreover,  Bomething  ia,  or  seems, 
That  teaches  me  with  mystic  gleams. 
Like  glimpses  of  forgotten  dreams  — 
Of  something  felt,  like  something  here ; 
Of  something  done,  I  know  not  where ; 
8ach  8S  no  language  may  declare." 

Schiller  asks : 

'  Were  once  our  spirits  linked,  and  intei'twining. 
And  for  that  life  are  still  our  spirits  pining, 
Bound  as  together  in  the  days  of  yore, 
Sighing  still  to  be  bound  once  more 
Where  vibrant  sounds  still  pour  ? 

Yes,  it  is  so ;  and  thou  wei-t  bound  to  me, 
In  the  long-vanished  years,  eternally, 
,And  from  the  troubled  tablet  of  my  soul 
Unwinds  this  beautiful  and  blessed  scroll. 
One  with  thy  love,  my  soul. 

Bound  us,  in  waters  of  delight,  for  ever 
Beautifully  flowed  the  heavenly  nectar  river. 
And  where  the  sunshine  bathed  Truth's  monntaia  springs 
Quivered  our  glancing  wings. 

Weep  for  the  God-like  life  we  lost  afar, 
Weep  I    Thou  and  I  its  scattered  fragments  are. 
And  still  the  unconquered  yearning  we  retain ; 
Sigh  to  restore  the  long  and  banished  reign, 
And  grow  divine  again." 

Schelling  breathes  his  soul-thoughts  in  these  lines; 

"  And  in  the  spheral  chime  they  listening  heard 
The  soul's  high  destiny,  which,  being  sunk 
Into  this  fleeting  life,  through  obscure  paths 
Must  wander,  fighting  still  a  God-like  fight- 
Victor  through  death  I 

Wordsworth  assures  us  — 

"Our  birth  is  but  a  sleep  and  a  forgetting; 
The  soul  that  rises  with  as  oor  life's  itM* 

18 


8T4  IMMORTAUTT. 

Hu  had  elsewhere  its  setdng, 
And  Cometh  from  afar,  * 

Not  in  entire  forgetfulness, 

And  not  in  utter  nakedness, 
Bat  trailing  clouds  of  glory,  do  we  come 
From  God,  who  is  our  home." 

Goethe,  contrasting  the  thorns  of  this  with  the  flowers  of 
the  Paradisaical  state,  writes : 

"  As  ofl  as  I  sec  lilies  I  feel  within  me  pain, 
And  yet  am  filled  with  joy  immediately  again. 
The  pain  cometh  because  I've  lost  that  beauty  rare, 
Which  I  fix>m  the  beginning  in  paa-adise  did  wear." 

An  eminent  English  scholar,  exhuming  from  the  dust  of 
ages  an  important  document  ascribed  to  Enoch,  gives  us 
tfhia  gem: 

•*  Prepare  thy  spirit  for  its  fotnre  existence, 
When  it  hath  wakened  from  the  swoon  of  mortali^; 
These  things  did  he  show  me, 
That  Angel  of  the  Lord  of  Splendors ; 
The  institution  of  heaven  in  the  heavens. 
And  in  the  worlds  that  are  under  the  heavens. 
The  spirits  that  delight  in  each,  abide  in  each. 
Tin  they  descend  to  take  the  mortal  form-** 

Spiritualism  demonstrates  a  future  existence,  but  not  the 
soul's  immortality.  A  future  immortality  implies  a  pre- 
existent,  or  past  immortality.  It  seems  clear  to  me  that  if  a 
protoplastic  formation  originated,  evolved,  and  built  up  essen- 
tial man,  involving  the  personal  identity^  it  may,  and  necessarily 
must^  by  the  law  of  involution,  return  again  to  protoplasm. 

Lucretius  and  his  disciples  were  materialists.  Inasmuch  as 
types^  or  essential  forms^  with  them,  were  not  co-existent  with 
substance,  but  effects,  or  derivative  results,  consequent  upon 
the  differentiation  and  integration  of  substance;  so  these 
beginnings  necessitated  endings.  Bodies  were  ephemeral. 
Their  destiny  was  to  suffer  resolution  into  the  primitive  sub- 
stance. 

It  was  precisely  upon  this  point  that  Agassiz  took  issue 
with  materialists.  The  former  held,  with  Plato,  that  ideas  and 
ultimate  forms  were  co-existent  with  substance.     He  taught 


MATTEB  AND  SPmiT.  275 

that  they  had  a  spiritual  basis,  antedating  tlieir  materia] 
embodiments.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  man  existed  in 
essence  before  he  became  a  personal  identity.  If  that  identity 
was  produced,  if  it  be  a  result,  an  effect  consequent  upon 
molecular  action  and  material  change,  then  no  "  key-stone  " 
in  the  archway  of  organization  will  insure  that  identity  from 
final  resolution  into  that  "  fiery  cloud,"  in  which  Tyndal 
informs  us  the  genius  of  Raphaol  and  Shakspeare  were  once 
latent. 

Every  argument  against  pre-existence  is,  so  far  as  entitled 
to  the  name,  an  argument  against  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

Divine  man,  according  to  Plato  and  the  world's  great 
thinkers,  is  an  embodiment  of  substance,  force,  and  form;  or, 
as  Swedenborg  expresses  it,  Love,  Wisdom,  and  Life.  With 
Plato,  idea,  form,  and  type,  meant  the  same  thing,  namely, 
existence  as  it  is  in  itself.  Hence,  with  this  great  thinker, 
ideas  were  subjective  realities,  and  should  always  be  distin- 
guished from  the  visible  shapes  which  matter  exhibits  to  the 
senses.  Visible  shapes  and  material  contents  come  and  go  ; 
they  are  ephemeral,  fleeting  ;  but  the  essential  form,  which  is 
invisible,  is  enduring  and  immortal. 

Materialism  knows  the  existence  of  nothing  in  the  universe 
that  is  persistent,  except  matter  and  force ;  and  its  range  is 
from  matter  to  matter.  In  its  last  analysis,  it  amounts  to 
this:  A  creeping  worm  and  the  royal  sage,  —  a  beefsteak,  a 
prayer-book,  and  a  divine  soul  are  all  the  same  originally,  — 
atoms  —  protoplasmic  atoms,  adjusted  and  arranged  for  spe- 
cific aims  and  ends,  by  non-designing  and  non-intelligent 
molecular  force.  And  so  all  conscious  life  —  all  exalted  aspi- 
rations, beginning  in,  must  necessarily  end  in  matter,  for  no 
Btreara  can  rise  above  its  fountain. 

The  only  crumb  of  comfort  deducible  from  this  theory  was 
poetically  and  sadly  expressed  by  Colonel  R.  G.  Ingersoll, 
over  the  dead  body  of  his  brother :  "  Life  is  a  narrow  vale 
between  the  cold  and  barren  peaks  of  two  eternities.  We 
strive  in  vain  to  look  beyond  the  heights.  We  cry  aloud,  and 
the  only  answer  is  the  echo  of  our  wailing  cry.     From  the 


276  IMMOBTALITY. 

voiceless  lips  of  the  unrepi}  ing  dead  there  comes  no  word. 
The  loved  and  loving  brother,  husband,  father,  friend,  died 
where  manhood's  morning  almost  touches  noon,  and  while 
the  shadows  were  still  falling  towards  the  West.  He  had  not 
passed  on  life's  highway  the  stone  that  marks  the  highest 
point,  but  being  weary,  for  a  moment  he  lay  down  by  the 
wayside,  and  using  his  burden  for  a  pillow,  fell  into  that 
dreamless  sleep  that  kisses  down  his  eyelids  still.  While  yet 
in  love  with  life  and  raptured  with  the  world  he  passed  to 
silent  and  pathetic  dust." 

How  unlike  are  the  above  words  to  the  following  sweet  and 
trusting  lines  of  Wm.  Cullen  Bryant : 

"So  theypaas 
From  stage  to  stage  along  the  shining  course 
Of  that  fair  river,  broadened  like  a  sea. 
As  its  smooth  eddies  curl  along  their  way, 
They  bring  old  friends  together;  hands  are  clasped 
In  joy  unspeakable;  the  mother's  arms 
Again  are  folded  round  the  child  she  loved 
And  lost.    Old  sorrows  are  forgotten  now. 
Or  but  remembered  to  make  sweet  the  hour 
That  overpays  them ;  wounded  hearts  that  bled 
Or  broke  are  healed  forever." 

"  Fare  well  for  ever,"  is  the  echo  of  Materialism  at  the 
tomb;  while  Spiritualism,  all  golden  with  the  crowning 
graces  —  faith,  knowledge,  trust  —  exclaims,  "  Peace  to  these 
ashes  ;  meet  me  in  the  Morning  Land  I " 

The  sorrowing,  heart-stricken  mourner  just  as  naturally 
turns  toward  Spiritualism  as  do  dew-laden  flowers  toward 
the  light  in  the  East. 

Spiritualism,  in  its  best  definition,  is  a  phenomenon,  a  phi- 
losophy, and  a  religion  ;  the  latter  its  chief  glory.  It  inspires 
during  life  to  holy  endeavor.  Its  genius  is :  Be  true  to  God, 
true  to  others,  and  thus  necessarily  be  true  to  yourself.  It 
does  not  drape  the  mourner's  home  in  gloom,  but  lifting  the 
curtain  of  darkness,  shows  heart-stricken  weepers  those  they 
love  —  ay,  more :  it  brings  their  glorified  forms  into  their 
very  presence,  permitting  them  to  clasp  their  white  "hands, 
and  listen  to  their  tender  musical  words  of  undying  affuction. 


A   SEANCE   IN   JERUSALEM   WITH   THE   APOSTLES.      277 


CHAPTER   XXL 

A  SEANCE  IN  JERUSALEM  WITH  THE  APOSTLES  —  WHAT 
JESUS  AND  PAUL  AND  JOHN  SAID — PRIMITIVE  CHRIS- 
TIANITY  AND   THE   FIRST   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES. 

When  circumnavigating  the  globe  the  first  time,  accom- 
panied by  Dr.  E.  C.  Dunn,  a  most  excellent  unconscious 
trance  and  inspirational  medium,^  I  was  sitting  with  him 
upon  the  deck  of  the  steamer  just  at  the  early  gray  of  even- 
ing time,  conversing  upon  tlie  religions  of  the  East.  We 
were  perfectly  harmonious.  The  crystal  sea  around  us  was 
smooth  as  polished  glass.  The  sun  had  gone  down  into  the 
depths  of  the  waters,  leaving  the  western  skies  aflame  with 
clouds  of  crimson  and  purple  and  gold.  All,  for  the  time 
being,  seemed  still  as  the  chambers  of  midnight,  when  sud- 
denly and  unexpectedly  Dr.  Dunn  became  entranced.  The 
controlling  intelligence  bowing  very  low,  after  the  manner 
of  the  Orientals,  expressed  the  hope  that  his  presence  would 
not  be  considered  an  intrusion.  Continuing,  he  assured 
me  that  he  had  lived,  clothed  in  mortal  vesture,  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  world  now  known  as  India,  something  like  four 
thousand  years  ago.  After  conversing  for  a  time  of  the 
manners,  customs,  laws,  and  governments  of  antiquity,  he 
said,  quite  unexpectedly,  that  he  was  cognizant  of  the  spirit- 
world's  raising  up,  under  the  providence  of  God,  through 
incarnate,  magnetic,  and  insj)irational  processes,  an  Israelit- 
ish  prophet,  to  spiritually  enlighten  his  people,  and  after- 
wards the  nations  of  the  earth.  He  was  guarded  by  angels 
and  guided  by  the  Divine  spirit  of  truth. 

1  It  has  been  reported  that  Dr.  E.  C.  Dunn,  Rockford,  111.,  has  renounced 
spiritualism  and  denied  his  mediumship.  The  report  was  conceived  in  sin  and 
spoken  in  falsehood.    He  is  still  a  medium  and  practising  physician. 


278  IMMORTALITY. 

"  You  say  that  you  and  sages  of  Persia  and  Egypt  and 
other  countries  were  cognizant  of  the  divine  purpose  to  raise 
up  Jesus  Christ,  a  light  to  enlighten  the  nations ;  will  you 
explain  the  method  ?  " 

"  This  is  an  exceedingly  difficult  task  ;  because  of  translat- 
ing our  ideas  into  earthly  symbols  called  words — together 
with  not  having  a  good  command  of  your  earthly  language. 
Aided  by  others  I  will  make  the  attempt.  There  are  in 
the  heavens  of  the  higher  holier  life  multitudes  of  benevo- 
lent and  philanthropic  angels,  who  delight  to  minister  to 
and  benefit  mortals.  They  often  meet  in  grand  conclaves, 
to  deliberate  upon  the  wisest  methods  to  spiritually  enlighten 
men  and  uplift  demons.  Upon  one  of  these  occasions  there 
were  present  in  a  congress  of  angels,  not  only  patriarchs, 
prophets,  and  ancient  sages  of  Persia,  but  Moses  and  Elias. 
These,  and  particularly  Moses,  were  anxious  to  sunder  the 
authoritative  chains  that  bound  the  Jews  to  Moses.  Israelit- 
ish  people  continually  quoted  Moses  as  authority  —  trusted 
in  the  outward  ceremonial  law,  and  justified  their  retaliating 
conduct,  of  an  eye  for  an  eye  and  tooth  for  tooth,  by  refer- 
ring to  the  law  of  Moses.  Teachings  live,  after  their  teach- 
ers die.  Though  long  in  spirit  life,  Moses  was  cognizant  of 
this;  and  when  witnessing  the  deleterious  influences  of  his 
retaliatory  system  of  ethics  —  when  witnessing  the  effects 
of  his  narrow,  intolerant  teachings  upon  the  tribes  of  Israel 
and  their  descendants,  his  very  soul  was  afire  with  quench- 
less desire  to  unsay  his  former  erroneous  sayings  —  to  break 
down  all  partition  walls  between  Jew  and  Gentile  —  to  in- 
culcate the  principle  of  returning  good  for  evil  —  and  to 
inspire  all  nations  and  races  with  the  divine  emotions  of 
toleration  and  brotherhood.  This  must  be  done.  Accord- 
ingly, it  was  conceived  and  planned  to  raise  up  Jesus,  who, 
when  baptized  from  on  high,  should  be  largely  instrumental 
in  reversing  Moses'  teachings,  and  introducing  into  Judean 
lands,  and  ultimately  all  lands,  the  beautiful  principles  of 
peace,  of  fraternity,  of  spiritual  gifts,  and  angel  ministries." 

This  Brahminical  spirit  intelligence  further  said,  that  he 


A    SEANCE   IN    JERUSALEM    WITH   THE    APOSTLES.       279 

had  learned  from  the  attending  circle  of  spirits,  that  we 
anticipated  a  visit  to  what  is  termed  the  "  Holy  Land,"  and 
then  added  in  substance  that  when  reaching  Jerusalem,  if 
conditions  were  favorable,  certain  ancient  spirits  that  per- 
sonally knew  Jesus  on  earth  would  communicate  with  rae, 
either  directly  or  medially.  The  promise  was  a  constant 
memory. 

According  to  this  Oriental  spirit's  teaching,  it  seems  that 
Mary  was  the  angel-chosen  mother.  The  mother  and  the 
father  were  in  spiritual  harmony.  Love  was  the  golden 
link  that  constituted  them  the  two  halves  of  the  perfect  cir- 
cle ;  and  from  the  sacred  moment  of  the  foetal  existence, 
Mary,  being  "  hid  away "  from  the  "  unfruitful  works  of 
darkness,"  was  the  subject  of  a  divine  baptism  —  a  magnetic 
influx  —  an  "overshadowing  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  which,  in 
the  poetic  imagery  of  the  East,  might  be  phrased  "  begotten 
by  the  Holy  Ghost "  —  that  is  to  say,  was  affected  and 
moulded  by  a  most  heavenly  influence  from  the  Christ- 
heavens  of  angelic  holiness.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Moses  and  Elias  appeared  to  Jesus  upon  the  mountain  of 
transfiguration,  showing  that  these  were  among  his  angel- 
ministrants.  I  believe  that  Moses  infused,  by  the  law  of 
sympathy,  of  will,  and  psychological  impression,  a  portion 
of  his  own  aural  presence  into  the  yet  unborn  infant  of 
Nazareth ;  and  in  this  sense,  at  least,  I  believe  in  re-incarna- 
tion. I  believe  that  Moses,  Elias,  and  a  legion  of  angels 
continually  suffused  Jesus  with  the  baptismal  aura  of 
heaven.  This  baptism  commenced  with  the  conception. 
Moses  did  this — spirits  are  still  doing  it,  to  secure  medium- 
istic  instruments  for  the  better  finishing  of  their  undone 
work  on  earth,  or  for  the  initiating  and  carrying  out  great 
sanitary,  scientific,  and  spiritual  reforms,  looking  prophetic- 
ally to  a  millennium  of  peace  and  harmony  on  earth. 

"Did  you,"  I  inquired,  "know  much  of  Jesus'  earthly  life 
previous  to  his  tragic  death  ?  " 

"It  did  not  interest  me  so  much  as  it  did  his  immediate 
attending  angel-guides.     He  travelled  extensively  in  search 


280  IMMORTALITY. 

of  wisdom,  as  was  the  custom  of  that  time,  and  more  so  of 
an  earlier  period.  The  Jewish  nation  was  not  the  equal  in 
civilization  or  culture  of  the  adjacent  nations.  Hence, 
Jesus  travelled  in  Persia,  India,  Egypt,  and  among  the 
descendants  of  the  Etruscans  ;  and  as  he  travelled,  he  often 
exhibited  his  wonderful  powers.  Somewhat  similar  gifts, 
though  not  so  mighty,  were  witnessed  occasionally  among 
all  nations,  especially  mine.  .  .  ."  With  these  words  and 
others,  taken  down  in  substance  at  the  time,  he  wished  me  a 
god-speed  to  Jerusalem,  made  his  salaam,  and  left  the  me- 
dium. 

Pursuing  our  journey  and  travelling  through  northern 
Egypt,  visiting  the  ruins  of  Memphis,  climbing  the  pyra- 
mids, and  sailing  up  and  down  the  Nile,  we  left  Alexandria 
by  steamer  for  Joppa,  thence  to  Jerusalem  on  Arab 
horses,  thence  to  the  Dead  Sea,  up  the  Jordan,  over  to 
Samaria,  and  around  by  Bethlehem  to  Jerusalem.  During 
the  trip  some  of  the  apostles  often  spoke  to  Dr.  Dunn 
clairaudiently,  pointing  out  certain  localities,  mountain 
passes,  and  old  ruins  that  were  standing  in  their  day. 
These  descriptions  interested  me  almost  to  ecstasy. 

After  retiring  to  our  room  for  rest  at  a  late  hour,  we  felt 
a  quiet  calmness  stealing  over  us.  Soon  the  Doctor  fell  into 
a  trance,  and  the  controlling  spirit,  "  Aaron  Knight,"  said, 
"If  you  will  bathe  frequently,  eat  lightly,  ventilate  your 
apartment,  keep  your  mind's  harmonial,  and  aspire  to  the 
spiritual  and  heavenly  for  a  few  days,  a  sympathizing  circle 
of  ancient  spirits,  personally  acquainted  with  Jesus  while 
upon  earth,  will  favor  you  with  a  visit."  So  far  as  possible 
we  complied  with  the  request ;  the  thought  was  uppermost 
in  my  mind  continually.  At  last  the  day  and  the  hour  ar- 
rived. We  were  in  our  room,  and  the  door  was  shut. 
Sitting  quietly,  prayerfully,  for  a  few  moments,  the  Doctor 
was  entranced  by  his  spirit-guide.     All  was  silence. 

"Why  do  you  not  speak?"  said  I  to  the  controlling 
spirit.  The  intelligence  said,  "  I  was  observing  how  indus- 
triously '  Powhattan '  and  other  Indian  spirits  are  preparing 


A   SEANCE   IN   JERUSALEM   WITH   THE   APOSTLES.      281 

the  room.  They  are  taking  out  every  element,  every  impure 
atom,  every  coarse,  gross  particle  that  would  militate  against 
the  approach  of  exalted  spiritual  beings." 

All  was  silence  again. 

"What  is  transpiring  now?"  I  again  inquired. 

The  reply  was  :  Some  spiritual  artisans,  chemists,  and 
scientists,  such  as  Perasee  Lendanta,  having  entered  the 
apartment,  seem  to  be  constructing  a  sort  of  projecting  gal- 
lery. In  appearance  it  is  unique  and  Oriental.  They  also 
manipulate  and  magnetize  the  atmosphere.  A  trail  of  light 
follows  the  movement  of  their  hands. 

They  leave,  and  now  a  large  band  of  female  spirits  come 
to  adorn  this  structural  projection.  They  seem  to  carpet  it 
with  some  material  of  soft  satin  whiteness.  How  beautiful ! 
These  female  spirits,  clothed  in  robes  of  spotless  white,  are 
now  engaged  in  decorating  and  festooning  the  room  with 
white  blossoms  ;  they  are  not  roses,  they  are  not  lilies ;  they 
are  such  flowers  as  bud  and  bloom  only  in  the  heavens. 
They  now  retire,  leaving  an  aura  of  brightness  behind 
them.  "Do  you  sense  anything  singular?"  inquired  the 
spirit. 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  "I  am  conscious  of  an  almost  painful 
stillness.  I  feel  a  soothing  yet  positive  tremulous  magnetic 
influence,  with  a  kind  of  buoyancy  that  almost  lifts  me  up 
into  the  atmosphere." 

"  You  were  never  before  in  such  a  spiritual  atmosphere 
nor  surrounded  by  such  heavenly  influences.  Earthly  lan- 
guage cannot  fully  describe  what  I  see.  A  ray  of  light  is 
streaming  down  from  the  angelic  world  of  holiness  into  this 
apartment.  Its  brightness  almost  dazzles  me^  for  it  comes 
from  a  sphere  far,  far  above  what  is  mine  yet  to  inhabit," 
said  the  control. 

All  was  silence  again — a  prolonged  silence.  Feeling  a 
little  uneasy,  I  again  asked,  "  Why  is  nothing  being  said  or 
done?"  The  reply  was,  "There  are  one  or  two  unfavorable 
conditions  yet  to  be  removed.  Will  you  take  those  black 
overcoats  of  yours  and  place  them  behind  the  white  bed- 


282  IMMORTALITY. 

curtains?  And  will  you  displace  your  black  garments  for 
something  white  ?  The  aural  emanation  from  black  is  repel- 
lent and  not  in  harmony  with  those  angelic  beings  who  are 
about  to  approach  this  locality." 

This  being  complied  with,  the  spirit  continued, — "A 
golden,  a  divine  brightness,  fills  the  room.  I  see  the  expected 
visitants  approaching.  They  enter,  passing  through  the  walls 
of  the  room  as  readily  as  light  passes  through  panes  of  pol- 
ished glass.  They  have  become  seated,  and,  bowing  their 
heads,  seem  engaged  in  meditation  and  prayer." 

The  spirit,  lifting  the  medium's  hand  and  pointing,  said,  — 
"There,  my  friend  of  earth,  sits  James  the  Apostle,  and 
original  head  of  the  Apostolic  College  in  Jerusalem  ;  next 
sits  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  was  crucified  but  a  little  dis- 
tance from  this  place ;  and  then  John,  Andrew,  Peter,  all  of 
the  apostles,  the  brothers  of  Jesus,  and  other  distinguished 
persons  of  the  gospels  and  of  history.  You  are  greatly 
favored,  and  blest  beyond  all  blessings,  in  being  permitted 
to  sit  in  this  apartment,  perfumed  with  heavenly  odors,  and 
graced  with  the  presence  of  those  glorified  spirits.  Often, 
my  friend,  have  you  questioned  me  about  events  and  his- 
tories referring  back  to,  and  ascribed  to  the  period  of,  Jesus 
and  the  apostles.  They  are  now  present,  with  ancient  spirits 
from  Persia,  India,  and  Egypt,  and  though  too  ethereal  and 
spiritual  to  entrance  the  medium,  you  can,  nevertheless,  put 
your  inquiries  to  them,  and  I,  a  spirit,  will  listen  for  their 
answers  and  report  them  to  you  through  this  medium,  as- 
sisted by  my  higher  advanced  and  more  divinely  gifted 
brother,  once  the  Rev.  James  Knight." 

I  sat  quiet,  speechless.  I  was  embarrassed.  It  was  to  me 
the  valley  of  humility.  I  was  never  so  consciously  alive  to 
human  weaknesses  and  imperfections.  My  voice  was  trem- 
ulous. 

"Aaron  Knight,"  appreciating  my  condition, said,  in  tones 
of  tenderest  kindness:  "Do  not  be  so  embarrassed,  friend  of 
earth  ;  these  beautiful,  and,  I  may  add,  holy  ones,  were  once 
mortal  as  you  now  are  mortal ;  they  had  their  follies  and 


A   SEANCE   IN   JERUSALEM    WITH    THE   APOSTLES.       283 

imperfections  as  you  have  yours.  Some  of  them  were  not  as 
far  advanced  morally  in  their  time  as  are  many  in  the  pres- 
ent era  of  the  world.  And  Jesus  adds,  says  Mr.  Knight, — 
"  I  chose  the  twelve  not  because  they  were  wise  ;  I  chose 
the  seventy  not  because  they  were  learned  rabbis,  but 
because  of  their  spiritual  susceptibility.  Feel  perfectly 
free  to  put  such  questions  as  you  desire  to  have 
answered." 

Having  recently  been  the  guest  of  the  Catholic  monks  in 
Bethlehem,  and  regaining  my  composure,  I  said,  "  Did  Jesus 
say  to  Peter,  '  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it '  ? "  The  reply  was,  "  As  some  two  thousand 
years  have  elapsed  since  I  walked  in  mortal  vestures,  I  do 
not  recall  the  verbatim  words  I  used,  speaking  in  a  different 
language  from  yours ;  but  this  was  the  idea  that  I  sought  to 
impress,  and  ideas  are  spiritual  substances,  and  memories 
immortal. 

"  Thou  art  Peter  ;  build  upon  the  rock  of  truth,  of  princi- 
ple, and  of  revelation.  He  who  builds  his  church  or  stands 
upon  the  rock  of  principle  cannot  be  moved  therefrom  by 
the  gates  of  hell,  or  the  powers  of  darkness.'' 

Reflecting  a  moment,  I  asked,  "  Does  Jesus  have  the  same 
regard  for  Judas  as  he  has  for  the  other  apostles  ? "  The 
response  was,  "  I  would  scarcely  be  worthy  the  name  of 
teacher  or  reformer,  if  capable  of  partiality  or  unkindly 
remembrances  of  transient  imperfections.  Perfection  be- 
longs to  God  only.  My  love  flows  spontaneously  to  Judas 
and  to  John,  and  to  all  intelligences  in  all  worlds.  Pure 
love  is  unselfish,  impartial,  and  immortal.  We  trusted 
Judas  to  carry  our  purse  ;  his  fault  was,  if  fault  it  may  be 
called,  he  had  too  much  faith  in  me.  He  had  witnessed  my 
works.  He  believed  that  the  conservative  element  of  the 
country  could  not  harm  me,  if  God  and  angels  thought  fit 
to  protect  me.  Thinking,  perhaps,  he  might  use  the  purse 
to  some  good  purpose,  he  merely  performed  his  part  in  the 
political  drama  of  the  period.     The  mental  sufferings  conse- 


284  IMMORTALITY. 

quent  upon  the  act  were  but  necessary  experiences,  which 
were  overruled  for  good." 

"Did  you  say,  Mr.  Knight,  that  the  apostle  Paul  was 
here  '?  "  —  "I  did."  —  "I  will  be  candid,  I  was  never  an  ad- 
mirer of  Paul,  for  he  seems  to  me  to  have  been  something  of 
a  policy  man,  given  to  boasting,  and  then,  carefully  reading 
the  works  of  Philo-Judaeus,  I  felt  that  either  this  distin- 
guished historian  plagiarized  from  Paul,  or  the  apostle  from 
Philo-Judpeus,  without  giving  due  credit.  But,  unfortu- 
nately for  the  Gentile  apostle,  he  lived  a  little  subsequent  to 
the  time  of  Philo-Judseus.     How  is  this  ?  " 

Graciously  smiling,  he  replies,  "  The  mortal  brother  is 
evidently  aware  that  the  spiritual  world  corresponds  to  a 
series  of  cycles,  and  inspirations  move  like  sea-waves.  The 
learned  rabbi  of  whom  he  speaks  was  a  Jew  by  birth ;  I  was 
the  same.  We  were  both  educated  in  the  same  school  of  the 
prophets  ;  we  were  both  impressional  and  inspirational.  I 
the  uiore  so  of  the  two,  seeing  into  the  heavens.  Thus 
racially  organized,  similarly  educated,  and  influenced  by  the 
same  inspiraUonal  wave,  it  would  be  quite  natural  that  there 
should  be  in  our  writings  a  similarity  of  ideas  and  expres- 
sions. Ideas  like  descending  dews  are  not,  however,  created 
by  men ;  and  so  far  as  any  originality  pertained  to  them,  it 
was  but  the  clothing  and  the  construction.  We  were  both 
acquainted  with  the  Greek  and  the  Platonic  philosophy. 
This  you  discover  in  my  extant  epistles." 

"  Which  of  the  five  great  religions  of  the  world  is  exerting 
the  most  redemptive  and  uplifting  influence  upon  human- 
ity? "  Mr.  Knight  replied,  "  Jesus,  being  directly  connected 
with  one  of  the  world's  religions,  and  not  professing  omnis- 
cience, prefers,  with  a  modesty  becoming  his  exalted  and 
princely  position  in  heaven,  to  express  no  opinion ;  only  to 
say,  'that  each  religion  with  its  teachings  must  be  judged  by 
its  fruits.  The  spirit  of  truth  is  the  same  in  all  countries 
and  in  all  spheres  of  existence.  While  remembering  my 
command  to  judge  not,  I  will  say,  that  much  that  is  called 
Christianity  in  the  world  to-day  is  traceable  to  neither  me 


A   SEANCE   IN   JERUSALEM   WITH   THE   APOSTLES.      285 

nor  my  chosen  apostles.  As  I  travelled  in  Egypt,  India, 
Persia,  and  along  the  coasts  of  my  native  land,  as  I  walked 
among  men,  the  high  and  the  low,  I  taught  love  to  God  and 
love  to  man  —  taught  men  to  do  by  others  as  they  would 
have  others  do  by  them,  and  to  live  spiritually  above  the 
world  while  in  the  world.  My  wonderful  works,  as  they 
were  termed,  were  natural  to  the  spiritual,  prayerful  sphere 
in  which  I  lived,  especially  when  alone,  and  yet  not  alone, 
for  my  Father  and  his  angels  were  with  me.  Trials  and 
travail  for  others'  good  brought  divine  helpers  and  gained 
the  victory.  My  soul  afire  with  love,  divine  and  universal, 
still  goes  out  to  all.  My  fold,  wide  as  all  tribes  and  races,  is 
one.  I  still  preach  to  spirits  in  prison,  self-imprisoned  in 
cells  of  selfishness.  They  are  my  loved  brethren  whether 
robed  in  or  disrobed  of  mortality.  My  religion  was  the 
religion  of  love  —  love  —  puke  love,  and  where  now  on 
earth  are  my  twelve,  my  seventy,  my  144,000,  my  gathering 
shepherds?  not  mine,  but  the  Father's.'  " 

"Are  these,  Mr.  Knight,  the  very  words  of  Jesus,  in 
whose  presence  we  now  are  ?  " 

"  No,  they  are  my  interpretation  of  his  expressed  ideas. 
I  wish  you  could  sefe  the  grand  and  golden  halo  of  glory  and 
brightness  that  encircles  him.  It  is  unlike  that  of  any  other 
angelic  being  that  I  have  ever  seen,  and  he  may  Avell  be 
denominated  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Prince  of  Heaven,  and 
the  brightness  of  the  Fatlier's  glory." 

"  Was  Jesus  begotten  supernaturally  ?  "  After  a  few 
moments'  silence,  Mr.  Knight  said,  "  Paul  voluntarily  thus 
replies  : 

"  '  If  by  supernaturally  is  meant  spiritually,  I  answer  in  the 
affirmative.  The  spiritual  is  the  natural  with  us.  Spirit  is 
substance  and  life.  Jesus'  conception  was  natural  with  the 
superaddition  of  a  holy  and  heavenly  influx,  called  the  Holy 
Ghost.  It  was  a  grand  demonstration  not  only  of  the  truth 
that  the  spirit  quickeneth,  but  of  the  spirit's  triumph  over 
matter  and  of  purity  over  passion.  The  majority  of  mortals 
now,  as  of  old,  are   conceived  in  sin,  the   sin   of  lust,  and 


286  IMMORTALITY. 

shapen  in  iniquity.  Hence  they  need  to  be  bo.  «  cagain  of 
the  water  and  of  the  spirit,  a  philosophy  well  understood  by 
the  Gnostics,  who  flourished  a  little  after  my  time.'  " 

"Is  Jesus  aware  that  there  are  those  in  enlightened  Chris- 
tian lands  who  deny  his  very  existence  ?  " 

"  He  is.  But  what  people  think  or  say  of  his  personality 
is  of  little  consequence  to  him.  There  were  certain  Greeks, 
in  my  time  on  earth,  who  denied  their  oicn  existence,  pro- 
nouncing life  an  illusory  phantasm.  Denial  and  doubt  are 
more  allied  to  ignorance  than  to  a  consensus  of  the  savants 
and  the  enlightened  intelligences  that  people  the  spheres  of 
mortality  and  immortality." 

"  Why  did  John  seem  to  sympathize  so  closely  with 
Jesus?"     Paul  continued, — 

"  These  spiritual  natures  and  temperaments  were  more  in 
unison.  And  tlien  John  was  more  cultured,  intuitive,  and 
affectionate  than  some  of  the  others.  He  was  also  much  of 
a  linguist,  accompanying,  with  others,  Jesus  into  Egypt  and 
Persia.  When  in  portions  of  Syria,  where  different  dialects 
were  spoken,  he  served  as  Jesus'  interpreter.  John,  as  well 
as  myself,  were  conversant  with  the  teachings  of  Zoroaster, 
Plato,  and  Buddha.  John,  known  among  the  disciples  as 
the  '  beloved,'  was  not  only  highly  inspired ;  but  at  times 
was  entranced,  clairaudient,  and  clear-sighted,  travelling  in 
spirit  afar  off  into  the  celestial  spheres ;  these  were  among 
the  reasons  why  he  entered  more  deeply  into  the  real  life 
and  practical  love  teachings  of  Jesus  than  the  others. 
After  the  Roman  crucifixion  John  was  especially,  though 
not  exclusively,  Jesus'  medium.  Later  he  inspired  him  to 
write  to  the  Seven  Churches,  i.e.,  to  the  seven  sympathizing 
assemblies  of  the  Judaic-Christian  believers  in  Asia,  who 
quite  generally  attended  Jewish  synagogues  and  performed 
their  sacrifices  in  Jewish  temples.  .  .  .  You  have  observed 
that  more  of  what  you  term  Oriental  doctrines  abound  in 
John's  writings  and  mine  than  in  the  others  now  called  canon- 
ical. In  our  Rabbinical  Colleges  were  teachers  from  Babylon, 
Persia,  and  Greece.     Our  age  of  the  world  was  not  so  be- 


A   SEANCE   IN   JERUSALEM   WITH   THE   APOSTLES.      287 

nighted  as  3'ou  moderns  have  supposed.  Future  discoveries 
will  demonstrate  the  truth  of  my  statement.  Gospels,  epis- 
tles, and  histories  are  awaiting  the  explorer  and  the  translator. 
You  have  better  facilities  for  disseminating  and  transmitting 
your  love  than  we  had ;  but  it  is  less  original  and  more  ex- 
ternal. There  were  more  than  twelve  apostles,  and  more 
than  seventy  disciples  sent  out  to  teach." 

"  Paul  speaks  of  the  crucifixion.  Was  Jesus  dead  when 
taken  down  from  the  cross,  and  did  he  raise  the  literally 
dead?" 

"  These  were  often  considered  dead  when  in  a  trance  or  a 
comatose  state.  Trance  ivas  death  to  the  external  world.  I 
was  not  present  at  the  crucifixion  and  never  saw  Jesus  in 
the  flesh.  Only  a  portion  of  his  travels  and  discourses, 
treasured  in  the  memories  of  the  witnesses,  have  been  pre- 
served. While  there  are  omissions  and  exaggerations,  the 
recorded  miracles  are  generally  correct,  although  Lazarus  was 
not  dead.  The  soul  was  not  literally  separated  from  the 
body.  Martha's  fear  and  excitement  excelled  her  knowledge. 
Jesus  awoke  him  from  '  sleep,'  a  prolonged,  death-seeming 
trance.  It  is  difficult  for  you  to  project  yourselves  in  ful- 
ness of  thought  into  Hebrew  life  so  given  to  mystery  and 
miracle.  Far  too  much  has  been  made  of  the  cataleptic 
swooning  and  tragically  trance-death  of  Jesus,  and  not 
enough  of  his  life  and  inspired  teachings.  No  spear  pierced 
his  heart.  He  was  entranced  before  dying.  His  spiritual 
body  arose.  He  frequently  sufficiently  materialized  tCbe 
discerned  by  his  apostles  and  sympathizing  friends.  No,  it 
was  not  the  death,  not  the  blood  that  enlightens  and  saves ; 
but  the  life  —  the  life  of  love  and  the  practice  of  peace  and 
good  will.  And  through  you,  I,  Paul,  would  like  to  remind 
those  standing  in  Christian  synagogues  to-day,  of  these 
words  of  mine  of  old  to  the  Romans,  —  '■being  reconciled  we 
shall  he  saved  hy  his  life.''  And  John  taught  the  same  truth 
also  when  he  said,  — '  His  life  is  the  light  of  men.'  " 

"You  speak  of  John.  Was  he  the  real  author  of  what  we 
term  the  fourth  gospel  ?  "     There  is  silence  again. 


288  IMMORTALITY. 

"  '  I  was,'  is  the  clear  response,"  says  Mr.  Knight.  "  John 
will  further  explain." 

"I  was  permitted  by  the  law  of  spiritual  sympathy  to 
enter  into  the  inner  circle  of  Jesus'  life  and  labors.  I  ac- 
companied him  into  foreign  countries.  I  was  with  him  in 
the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  upon  the  mount  of  transfigu- 
ration. Our  souls  ever  mingled  in  deepest  love  and  sym- 
pathy. We  often  met  in  secret  for  angel  communion.  .  .  . 
I  was  not  thrown  into  a  caldron  of  boiling  oil  by  a  Roman 
pro-consul.  The  report  was  not  correct.  I  was  sent  to 
Patmos  for  a  season.  ...  I  answer  both  from  memory  and 
from  a  spiritual  record  of  those  times  spiritually  recorded  in 
that  portion  of  the  spiritual  heavens  wherein  I  dwell.  .  .  . 
There  are  records  and  imperfect  histories  of  my  time  and 
era  yet  to  be  unearthed.  These  records  and  manuscripts 
were  concealed  during  the  early  persecutions  of  the  Chris- 
tians. .  .  .  My  gospel,  as  now  called,  was  written  in  Ephe- 
sus  during  my  second  and  last  residence  there,  in  my  old 
age,  aided  by  my  bosom  friend  and  younger  yoke-fellow, 
John  the  Presbyter.  It  was  written  some  time  too  after  the 
Apocalypse,  inspired  by  Daniel ;  and  a  still  longer  time  after 
the  division  between  the  Jewish  Christians  who  personally 
knew,  walked  with,  and  lived  with  Jesus,  and  the  Grecian- 
ized  Gentile  Christians.  .  .  .  While  there  are  in  my  writings 
extant  references  to  Paul's  mysticisms,  to  the  Cerinthians 
and  Sabians,  and  to  other  paganized  teachers,  the  main  pur- 
pose of  my  gospel  was  to  fill  out  details,  supply  some  defi- 
ciencies, emphasize  the  spirituality  of  Jesus'  Kingdom,  rivet 
in  believers'  minds  the  central  fact  of  religion,  God's  love  ; 
and  to  show  that  love  in  the  future  was  to  be  made  the  great 
potent  motive  of  obedience.  '  If  ye  love  me,  keep  my  com- 
mandments.' .  .  . 

"  Yes  —  we  believed  that  Jesus  was  the  promised  and  the 
providential  Messiah ;  but  did  not  look  upon  him  as  the 
very  God  and  Father  of  all  spirits.  Our  worship  of  him 
was  the  worship  that  honor  pays  to  true  worth.  We,  the 
Jerusalem  Christians,  had  one  God,  one  law,  one  hope,  one 


A   SEANCE   IN   JERUSALEM   WITH   THE   APOSTLES.      289 

faith,  one  Messiah,  and  one  leading  purpose,  and  that  to  love 
and  help  one  another;  and  for  the  latter  reason  we  were 
sometimes  called  Ebionites,  needy  people,  and  Essenians.  .  .  . 
Very  friendly  intercourse  between  the  Jerusalem  Christians 
and  the  advanced  Jews  was  kept  up  during  my  time.  But 
the  paganized  Gentile  Christians,  given  to  mysticism  and 
dogmatism,  met  with  great  opposition  from  the  Jews  in 
Antioch,  Corinth,  and  Rome.  .  .  .  Religion  as  a  deep  emo- 
tion of  the  soul  is  unchangeable  ;  but  religious  systems  are 
as  changeable  as  the  councils  that  construct  them.  The 
general  Christianity  of  this  age  seems  to  me  a  sort  of  min- 
gled mysticism  and  Gnosticism,  abounding  more  in  the 
doctrine  of  Paul  than  in  the  spirit  and  teachings  of  Jesus. 
And  Paul,  from  his  present  exalted  position,  concurs  in 
my  decision.  The  sooner  Christian  sects  unsect  themselves 
and  become  Christians,  settling  down  upon  the  Christian 
basis  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  doi-ng  the  will  of  God, 
the  better  for  the  world.  .  .  .  There  were  man}'-  central 
Christian  gatherings  —  churches  you  call  them  —  in  our 
time  not  mentioned  in  your  Testament.  Some  of  them, 
because  of  persecution,  were  purposely  kept  secret  from  the 
world.  And  there  were  disciples  and  apostolic  teachers  too, 
radiating  from  Jerusalem  ;  and  others,  coming  to  Jerusalem 
from  foreign  countries,  interested  in  Jesus'  teachings  and 
mighty  spiritual  gifts,  whose  names  and  good  works  are  lost 
to  history.  .  .  .  James  was  the  first  bishop  in  Jerusalem. 
We  remained  there  much  of  the  time  for  some  fourteen 
years,  as  you  reckon  time,  before  the  ascension  of  Jesus, 
spiritualized  and  glorified.  From  this  time  his  redemptive 
work  was  mostly  in  the  spiritual  spheres."  .  .  . 

"  What  was  Jesus  doing,  and  where  was  he,  from  twelve  to 
thirty?      The  four  gospels  are  silent." 

"  He  was  preparing  for  his  great  work.  You  are  aware 
that  it  was  the  custom  of  certain  of  the  ancients  to  travel 
with  their  teachers  into  far-off  lands  in  search  of  wis- 
dom. Jesus,  accompanied  by  duly  appointed  seers  and 
sages,  visited  not  only  Egypt,  but  Persia,  India,  and  other 


290  IMMORTALITY. 

countries,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  their  priests  and  savants. 
He  was  also  received  into  the  fraternal  fellowship  of  some 
of  their  societies,  acquainting  himself  with  their  mysteries: 
I  speak  what  I  know.  By  some  of  these  brotherhoods  lie 
was  considered  a  god.  He  would  then  say.  It  is  my  Father 
that  u'orketh  in  me.  Often  upon  these  journeys  he  exhibited 
his  miraculous  or  spiritual  powers,  but  always  to  some 
beneficent  end,  and  never  to  astonish  idle  gatherings.  He 
shunned  public  crowds,  for  his  nature  was  retiring  and 
peaceful.  And  he  often  frequented  groves  and  mountains, 
accompanied  only  by  attending  angels." 

"  H  Jesus  were  on  earth  to-day  in  a  material  body,  Mr. 
Knight,  what  do  you  think  would  be  his  first  words  to  Chris- 
tian ministers  ?  " 

"  Looking  at  him  encircled  in  a  cloud  of  golden  glory,  and 
considering  his  great  humanitarian  love,  he  would  probably 
say  as  of  old,  —  '•  Seek  the  lost  sheep  — feed  my  sheep  ! 
They  are  longing  for  light  and  hungering  for  spiritual  love, 
life  and  truth.  Seek  for  the  lost  sheep  — find  them  and  feed 
them.  And  continue  the  search  till  there's  but  one  fold 
and  one  shepherd.'  "... 

Aaron  Knight,  the  intermediate  controlling  spirit,  partially 
relaxed  his  influence  at  this  point,  that  the  Apostle  John 
might  control  and  speak  to  me  directly.  But  it  was  nearly 
a  failure.  He  could  only  speak  in  weak  whispers ;  but  the 
whispers  were  words  of  gold,  and  the  advice  as  fraternally 
and  fatherly  tender  as  heavenly.  After  speaking  of  the 
august  conclave  of  great  souls  present,  and  describing  his 
island  home  in  the  garden  of  the  gods,  he  closed  with  these 
words,  —  "  All  these  glories  shall  be  thine,  my  child,  when 
thou  art  worthy  —  when  thou  art  worthy  !  " 


SEANCES    WITH   THE   GREAT    SCOTCH   MEDIUM.  291 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

SEANCES  WITH  THE  GREAT  SCOTCH  MEDIUM  DAVID  DUGUID 
—  WHAT  THE  HOLLAND  ARTIST  SPIRITS,  AND  HAFED  THE 
ANCIENT  PERSIAN  TEACH  THROUGH  HIM  —  WHAT  JESUS 
WAS  DOING  FROM  THE  AGE  OF  TWELVE  TO  THIRTY  WHEN 
HE  APPEARED  AS  A  PUBLIC  TEACHER  —  WHAT  POSITION 
HE  NOW  OCCUPIES  IN  THE  HEAVENLY  WORLD. 

The  Highland  Scotch  are  somewhat  noted  in  history  for 
their  second  sight  and  other  spiritual  gifts.  They  are  not,  as 
yet,  uncommon  among  them.  And  certainly  this  century 
has  produced  no  more  trustworthy  and  distinguished  me- 
dium, in  my  opinion,  than  David  Duguid  of  Glasgow,  Scot- 
land, a  working,  industrious  cabinet-maker,  by  profession. 
I  felt  honored  in  sitting  in  his  circles  during  my  several 
visits  to  the  old  world. 

I  should  judge  Mr.  Duguid  to  be  now  about  fifty  years  of 
age.  He  is  naturally  a  calm,  quiet,  conscientious  man ;  light 
complexioned,  strongly  built,  and  retiring  in  appearance. 
He  has  rather  a  large-sized  head  with  a  full  front  and  high 
top-brain.  His  self-esteem  is  small,  and  he  is  therefore  un- 
demonstrative. His  education  is  limited.  Though  genial 
and  passive  in  spirit,  he  is  a  man  of  firm  convictions,  and  is 
attractive  as  a  companion  and  friend  because  pleasant,  mild- 
mannered,  and  dignified.  He  has  been  a  medium  about 
twenty-five  years,  and  his  seances  have  always  been  select 
and  orderly,  usually  closing  with  a  benediction  by  the  spirit. 

Though  expressed  in  a  single  phrase,  he  is  a  trance 
medium,  clairvoyant  and  clairaudient  at  times,  he  has  had 
such  other  manifestations  as  movements  of  bodies  without 
contact,  direct  spirit  voices,  levitations,  spirit  lights,  writing 
in  several  different  languages,  and  painting  pictures  in  the 


292  IMMORTALITY. 

dark.  This  latter  phase,  marvellous  as  beautiful,  others  as 
well  as  myself  have  tested  scores  upon  scores  of  times. 
These  tests  have  been  crucial  and  critical  in  the  extreme. 
Frequently,  pieces  have  been  torn  off  from  the  corners  of 
cards,  by  those  present,  and  the  remainders  handed  to  the 
medium.  The  lights  are  then  turned  down  —  when,  very 
quickly,  one  or  more  fine  oil  paintings  are  found  to  have 
been  produced.  The  adjusting  of  the  torn  corners  Avas 
the  evidence  of  the  genuineness  of  the  manifestation. 
Sometimes  these  paintings  are  executed  by  Ruysdal  and 
Steen  direct,  the  medium's  hands  being  firmly  held  the  mean- 
while by  those  in  the  seance  sitting  next  to  him.  This  test 
is  as  common  as  satisfactory.  Under  these  artistic  controls, 
brushes  are  cleansed,  paints  mixed,  and  paintings  executed 
just  as  speedily  in  the  dark  as  in  the  light.  It  is  a  wonder- 
ful phenomenon.  And  these  phenomena  are  positive  proofs 
—  ay,  more  —  they  are  absolute  and  tangible  demonstrations 
of  spirit  existence  and  presence. 

Among  the  controlling  intelligences  of  Mr.  Duguid,  there 
is  one  master  mind,  Hafed,  a  Persian  chief  or  prince,  living 
upon  the  earth  about  nineteen  hundred  years  ago.  In  his 
mature  years  he  became  the  head  of  the  Magi,  following  the 
"  flame,"  or  Star  in  the  East,  to  Betlilehem ;  and  in  his  old 
age  he  suffered  martyrdom  for  his  Christian  faith. 

Here  follow  answers  to  questions  I  asked  Hafed  during 
several  different  sittings.  They  were  taken  down  by  a  re- 
porter, and  appear  here  verbatim,  except  that  a  few  are  con- 
densed. 

1.  Did  you,  Hafed,  when  on  earth,  personally  know  Jesus 
of  Nazareth? 

Most  assuredly  I  did.  I  knew  him  from  an  infant  till 
the  time  he  left  this  earth.  I  was  one  of  those  chosen  by  the 
spirit  of  Flame  in  Persia  to  proceed  to  Bethlehem  with  the 
gifts.  In  Bethlehem  we  found  the  child  according  to  that 
which  was  spoken  long  before  he  made  his  appearance  on 
earth  — spoken  not  only  to  the  Hebrews,  but  to  our  nation, 
Persia,  to  India,  and  Egypt.     It  had  been  predicted  that  he 


SEANCES    WITH    THE    GREAT    SCOTCH    MEDICM.         293 

should  appear  among  us.  But  that  PriestSjjirit  we  wor- 
shipped thought  fit  that  he  shoukl  come  through  the 
Hebrews,  about  the  worst  people,  in  our  estimation,  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth.  They  considered  themselves  the  "chosen 
people  of  God,"  but  they  were  chosen  only  in  the  sense  that 
they  were  to  be  the  stock  through  which  Jesus  should  come. 

He  was  soon  sent  to  Egypt  to  be  protected  and  educated, 
remaining  there  under  my  good  friend  Issha,  who  became  to 
him  like  a  father.  Hernias,  my  friend  and  brother,  was 
brought  up  with  him  in  his  childhood,  and  studied  with 
him  in  the  same  cell.  Then  he  came  under  my  tutoring  and 
was  with  me  for  a  long  time,  and  did  many  marvellous 
things  even  when  a  youth. 

Had  he  been  born  among  us,  the  Persians,  the  whole 
nation  would  have  followed  after  him.  The  world  may  con- 
sider us  heathen  or  fire-worshippers,  but  we  were  nothing  of 
the  kind.  The  sun  was  to  us  an  emblem  of  the  infinite  light 
of  the  universe,  the  symbol  through  which  we  could  see  the 
Divine  Being. 

The  Jesus  of  Judea  that  you  inquired  about  was  initiated 
into  our  order  when  but  a  j'oung  man.  This  was  excep- 
tional. After  being  initiated  he  returned  to  his  parents  a 
short  time,  and  then  shortly  after,  coming  back  to  me,  he 
accompanied  me  into  India,  where  he  left  his  mark.  While 
there  he  was  initiated  into  a  small  community  or  brotherhood 
who  had  banished  themselves  from  the  world.  He  here  be- 
came an  adept,  being  taught  the  lore  and  the  wisdom  of 
ancient  India.  After  a  proper  time  he  returned  with  me 
again  to  Persia,  and  from  there  to  Judea,  to  take  up  his 
public  ministry.  He  came  as  the  Light  of  the  world,  and 
the  time  will  come  when  his  teachings  will  lighten  the  whole 
world.  If  the  people  of  the  past  had  stood  up  firmly  for  the 
pure  teachings  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  there  would  have  been 
less  discord,  less  greed  for  gold,  and  none  of  this  priestcraft 
now  in  the  world.  And  the  day  will  yet  dawn  when  the 
world  will  go  back  (really  forward)  to  the  primitive  and 
divine  teachings  of  Jesus  of  Judea. 


294  mMOKTALITY. 

2.  Is  it  from  a  sense  of  duty,  or  from  pleasure,  that  you 
control  this  medium? 

I  do  not  completely  possess  him  ;  I  am  merely  one  of 
his  guides.  He  was  taken  up  by  another  spirit  altogether 
(Ruysdal)  for  artistic  work,  with  various  tests  of  spirit  pres- 
ence. -I  was  looking  for  such  an  instrument  on  earth,  that 
I  might  return  and  finish  up  some  unfinished  work.  Duty 
at  all  times  should  be  a  pleasure.  There  are  some  on  the 
earth,  and  some  in  the  lower  states  of  spirit  life,  who  would 
blot  Jesus  out  of  existence  if  they  could.  Owing  to  the  con- 
dition I  was  in,  and  the  position  I  occupied  in  the  past,  I  was 
determined  to  return  and  uphold  him  and  his  principles. 

3.  Which  of  the  nations  of  antiquity,  China,  India,  or 
Egypt,  do  you  think  attained  the  highest  civilization,  and 
which  was  first  in  order  of  time  ? 

India  was  first.  I  look  upon  India  —  Central  Asia  —  as 
the  birthplace  of  the  human  race  at  a  very  remote  period. 
Egypt  was  next.  Egypt  and  India  attained  their  highest 
civilization  about  the  same  time ;  but  there  were  nations 
before  these  attaining  and  enjoying  a  very  high  state  of 
civilization. 

4.  Wherein  did  the  necromancy  of  the  Jews  and  the  thau- 
maturgy  of  Greece  differ  from  the  spirit-controls  of  to-day? 

A  great  many  of  them  did  not  differ.  Natural  law  is  uni- 
versal. Spiritual  communications  have  always  been  in  the 
world.  Necromancy  refers  to  spirits  of  a  low  order.  The 
oracles  of  those  nations  were  often  tampered  with  by  the 
priests.  When  a  young  man  in  Egypt,  and  when  an  old 
man  also,  I  consulted  the  oracles ;  but  I  could  read  the  mes- 
sages from  the  silver  table  without  the  virgin  prophetess 
opening  her  lips  ;  that  is,  the  messages  designed  for  myself. 

6.  Are  there  buried  manuscripts  and  records  yet  to  be 
discovered  settling  disputed  points  of  history  ? 

Though  many  ancient  nations  passed  away,  leaving  no 
records  written  as  you  write,  yet  their  records,  more  durable, 
were  put  upon  stone  and  lead,  and  many  of  them  will  yet 
be  unearthed,  and  important  facts  brought  to  light.     The 


SEANCES   WITH    THE    GREAT    SCOTCH   MEDIUM.  295 

direct  records  of  this  same  Jesus  will  be  discovered,  and 
those  who  speak  against  him  will  see  with  their  own  eyes 
the  proofs  of  his  existence. 

6.  Cannot  spirits  lead  their  mediums  to  these  buried 
documents,  and  so  hasten  discoveries  ? 

They  might.  They  could  and  do  help  those  who  search 
out  such  things ;  that  is,  those  whose  minds  tend  in  that 
direction  are  urged  on  by  those  in  the  spirit-world,  and  so 
discoveries  are  made.  There  are  many  mediums  who  are 
not  conscious  of  their  mediumship.  Those  in  our  spiritual 
world  do  not  wish  mankind  to  believe  what  is  untrue. 

7.  Did  you,  in  the  spirit-world,  ever  meet  an  intelligent, 
broad-minded  spirit  who  denied  the  existence  of  the  Jesus  of 
our  New  Testament? 

I  never  did.  How  could  we,  when  we  see  him  day  by 
day?  At  different  times  we  have  given  some  descriptions 
of  that  magnificent  spirit-temple  where  we  meet,  and  where 
many  of  all  kindred,  tongues,  colors,  and  races  meet,  from 
darkest  African  to  purest  white.  There  assemble  the  phil- 
osophers and  sages  of  different  ages,  to  discuss  and  counsel 
together  about  the  affairs  of  their  own  and  other  nations,  — 
what  can  be  done  for  them,  and  what  can  be  done  for  spirits 
in  lower  conditions ;  and  all  recognize  Jesus  as  he  t«,  the 
Prince  above  all,  once  the  Prince  of  Peace,  now  the  Prince 
of  Heaven.  It  will  be  a  grand  sight  if  ever  your  eyes  get  a 
sight  of  this  temple  before  you  leave  earth.  All  here  are 
affectionately  of  one  mind,  all  worship  God,  though  in  differ- 
ent ways,  and  all  are  seeking  to  do  good  to  others.  The 
words  of  our  divine  Prince  are  always  words  of  love,  and  we 
look  forward  to  the  time  when  this  same  brotherly  love  that 
Jesus  taught  shall  return  to  all,  and  abide  on  earth  forever. 
...  I  know  the  Apostle  John  well.  I  have  seen  them  all. 
I  knew  Paul  well  when  on  earth.  I  have  met  him  here.  He 
is  greatly  changed,  being  now  much  milder  in  spirit.  He 
has  naturally  an  ardent  nature.  He  was  not  a  gnostic.  There 
was  a  sort  of  Jewish  gnosticism,  and  a  Zoroastrian  gnosti- 
cism, but  Paul  belonged  to  neither  of  these  schools.     The 


296  IMMORTALITY. 

gnosticism  spoken  of  to-day  was  not  known  in  Upper  Egypt 
or  Alexandria  at  that  time.  It  sprung  up  a  good  deal  later. 
Much  of  their  secret  knowledge,  so  called,  was  neither  wise 
nor  true.  ...  I  knew  about  the  origin  of  Christianity,  for 
I  helped  to  establish  it.  I  did  not  personally  know  Josephus, 
but  did  know  Philo  Judseas.  I  argued  with  Peter  against  the 
observance  of  Jewish  laws  and  ceremonies.  .  .  .  Zoroaster 
was  my  spirit  guide.  He  was  almost  continually  with  me, 
inspiring  me  with  good  thoughts.  The  fires  upon  our  altars 
were  always  burning.  They  were  often  built  upon  the 
mountain  tops.  The  High  Magi  stood  in  the  inner  circle. 
We  saw  the  spirit  in  the  cloudy  flame.  It  was  here  that  we 
received  our  orders  to  go  to  Bethlehem.  .  .  .  Yes,  I  think  it 
can  be  so  arranged  that  you  can  give  your  questions  directly 
to  Jesus.  We  will  try  and  give  you  the  privilege  in  the 
future. 

QUESTIONS   ANSWERED   BY   JESUS    OF   NAZARETH. 

After  a  few  moments  of  quiet  sittiiig  in  the  seance  room, 
Steen  controlled,  Mr.  Duguid  preparing  the  way.  Hafed  soon 
came,  taking  control,  and  being  in  direct  rapport  with  Jesus. 
The  latter  answered  ni}^  questions,  assisted  by  Hafed,  and 
some  of  the  time  by  John  the  apostle.  To  save  space,  I  only 
give  the  answers  to  the  questions. 

1.  Yes;  the  country  called  Palestine  has  changed  vastly 
in  appearance  since  I  there  worked  in  my  body.  Kedron 
was  then  a  pretty  brook,  bnt  now  dry,  as  you  know,  a  good 
portion  of  the  season.  Olivet  was  much  higher,  and  the 
Vale  of  Himmon  has  been  partially  filled  up.  Volcanoes, 
earthquakes,  and  other  commotions  have  produced  the 
changes. 

2.  Yes ;  I  did  comprehend  the  import  of  my  mission  when 
a  child.  I  felt  the  presence  of  angels,  saw  them,  conversed 
with  them,  and  was  in  a  measure  conscious  of  my  spiritual 
power.  I  worshipped  the  Father  in  synagogues  and  upon 
the  mountains. 

3.  The  most  of  my  time  before  entering  public  life  was 


SEANCES    WITH   THE   GREAT   SCOTCH   MEDIUM.  297 

spent  in  travels  in  other  countries,  in  the  retreats  of  brother- 
hoods, in  the  society  of  magi,  and  among  the  temple  priests 
of  Egypt.  .  .  .  John's  Gospel,  in  its  general  sweep,  gives  the 
best  account  of  my  life,  especially  my  later  life  and  work. 
Existing  fragmentally  during  John's  earth  life,  he  inspiration- 
ally  prepared  and  wrote  it  after  entering  spirit  life.  John, 
from  his  deep  sympathy  with  me,  was  best  adapted  to  the 
preparation  of  this  later  Gospel.  There  were  other  Gospels, 
recording  some  of  my  works,  not  now  extant  on  earth. 

4.  Yes ;  I  did  pre-exist,  and  I  had  a  glory  with  the  Father 
before  the  present  form  of  this  material  world.  I  remember 
my  pre-existent  life,  others  may  not  remember  theirs.  Some 
do  not  remember  very  much  of  their  earthl}'-  life  while  living  it. 

5.  My  relation  to  the  apostles,  of  which  you  ask,  is  no 
more  than  to  any  apostle  of  the  truth  in  the  past  or  present. 
Those  of  old  saw  my  works  and  believed  ;  blessed  are  those 
of  to-day  who  have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed!  They 
believed,  and  sought  to  do  the  Father's  will  by  doing  good 
to  all.  My  apostles  of  to-day  are  just  as  worthy  as  those 
who  followed  me  in  Palestine. 

6.  I  do  remember  our  meeting  in  Jerusalem,  or  seance,  as 
you  call  it.  It  was  pre-arranged,  and  was  for  a  purpose.  I 
spoke  to  you  then  much  as  I  do  now,  mediatorially,  or  through 
another.  I  answered  your  questions  as  best  I  could  under 
the  conditions.  It  is  a  great  distance,  spiritually,  from  my 
plane  to  mortality.  When  on  the  earth,  and  in  the  world, 
my  kingdom  was  not  of  the  world. 

At  this  point  Hafed  of  himself  said,  "Jesus  had  many 
apostles  whose  names  do  not  appear  in  your  gospels  or  his- 
tories. I  was  one  of  his  apostles.  We  took  up  his  cause, 
and  toiled  in  the  harvest  field  of  truth  in  his  behalf." 

7.  Yes ;  publish  now,  at  your  convenience,  the  account  of 
your  seance'in  Jerusalem.  Some  will  conscientiousl}^  doubt 
it,  others  will  ridicule  it.  Let  them  do  so.  Private  judg- 
ment was,  and  is,  the  prerogative  of  all.  I  was  right  against 
the  Sanhedrim  of  my  time.  Many  will  accept  the  account 
of  the  seance  with  gladness,  because  adapted  to  their  plane 


298  IMMORTALITY. 

of  spiritual  unfoldment.  Those  who  oppose  and  unreason- 
ably reject,  harm  only  themselves.  My  love  goes  out  to  them 
the  same.  Lo,  I  am  with  you,  and  with  all  humanity,  in 
spirit,  till  the  world  shall  end.  .  .  .  Owing  to  the  connection 
of  my  name  with  the  Christianity  of  your  time,  I  am  not 
anxious  to  express  opinions  upon  the  subject,  because  all 
religions,  at  the  fountain,  are  one;  but  I  will  say  this,  the 
prevalent  Christian  dogmas  of  to-day,  with  their  sectarian 
limitations  and  accompanying  intolerance,  are  no  part  of  the 
religion  that  I  tauglit  tlie  world.  My  commandments  and 
my  repeated  advice  were,  "Love  ye  one  another,"  "Do  by 
others  as  you  would  have  them  do  by  you ;  "  and  I  sought  to 
exemplify  my  teachings  by  going  among  the  poor  and  the 
oppressed,  by  healing  the  sick,  and  praying  for  my  perse- 
cutors. Religion  is  the  life  of  the  soul  expressed  in  good 
thoughts  and  good  deeds.  .  .  . 

The  visions  and  prophecies  that  I  gave  to  John  when  in 
spirit  upon  Patmos,  appearing  in  a  chaotic  state  in  the  book 
of  Revelations,  have  been  in  part  fulfilled,  but  not  all.  Great 
physical,  political,  social,  and  religious  changes  are  now  pend- 
ing. They  are  spiritually  sensed  by  the  sensitive  and  the 
prophetic.  Remember  these  sayings.  Spirits  occupying 
exalted  planes  of  spirituality  can  readily  comprehend  causes 
and  their  coming  effects,  and  they  are  often  themselves  the 
causes  of  mighty  revolutions.  My  kingdom,  which  is  the 
kingdom  or  reign  of  peace,  love,  and  good  will,  will  yet  be 
established  throughout  your  world,  and  blessed  be  those  who 
aid  in  the  establishment !    They  shall  shine  as  the  stars.  .  .  . 

8.  Here  Hafed  continued.  When  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ,  which  is  the  spirit  of  pure,  unselfish  love,  descends 
more  fully  and  potently,  and  when  the  world  becomes  more 
fully  baptized  into  this  spirit,  and  into  this  Pentecostal  power 
that  characterized  primitive  Christianity,  tribes',  races,  and 
nations  will  be  lifted  from  their  selfishness,  and  seek  that 
heaven  of  peace  and  charity  that  passeth  present  under- 
standing. 

Christianity  —  that  is,  the   Christianity  of  the  different 


SEANCES   WITH   THE   GREAT    SCOTCH   MEDIUM.  299 

sects  —  is  so  adulterated,  so  mixed  with  sectarian  worldli- 
ness,  sordid  selfishness,  irrational  dogma,  and  the  leaven  of 
the  Pharisees  generally,  that  its  primitive  and  original  feat- 
ures are  scarcely  discernible.  Where  is  that  paternal  kind- 
ness, that  charity,  that  sympathy,  that  self-sacrifice,  that 
forgiveness,  and  that  brotherly  love  taught  and  practised  by 
Jesus  our  Prince  ?  It  may  be  summed  up  to-day,  as  of  old : 
li)ve  to  God,  and  love  to  man.  Where,  oil!  where  can  it  be 
found  as  a  prelude  to  the  speedy  coming  of  the  predicted 
millennium  ?  .  .  .  I  know  about  primitive  Christianity,  for  I 
aided  in  its  origin.  I  helped  to  plant  primitive  churches  in 
Asia,  along  the  seas  of  southern  Europe,  and  in  northern 
Africa.  Your  histories  of  that  period  are  meagre  and  faulty. 
There  was  more  than  one  day  of  Pentecost,  when  there  was 
an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  with  attending  tongues  and 
spiritual  gifts, — gifts  that  ought  to  be  universal  on  earth 
to-day.  The  primitive  Christianity  of  Jesus,  his  apostles, 
disciples,  and  believers,  and  the  spiritualism  of  your  most 
spiritual  Spiritualists,  are  in  happy  accord.  One  law,  one 
life,  one  religion,  and  one  spirit,  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love. 
And  so  the  old  is  new,  and  the  new  is  old.  Can  you  not 
clearly  discern  the  signs  of  the  times? 

The  hour  was  now  getting  late,  and  I  said  to  Hafed,  "  I 
may  publish  these  communications,  and  do  you  not  expect, 
though  your  medium  is  one  of  the  most  excellent  of  men, 
that  people,  and  even  some  Spiritualists,  will  disbelieve  your 
statements  that  you  lived  and  walked  and  talked  with  Jesus 
in  his  youth,  and  aided  in  the  establishment  of  primitive 
Christianity  ?     Answer." 

Yes;  I  expect  that  many  will  doubt.  This  is  an  age  of 
materialism,  of  doubt  and  unbelief.  And  I  expect  what  I 
have  said  before  in  substance.^     My  answers  to  your  ques- 

'  See  Hafed,  Prince  of  Persia,  liis  experiences  in  earth  and  spirit  life,  page  4. 
This  volume  of  nearly  six  hundred  pages,  finely  illustrated  with  spirit  pict- 
ures, is  one  of  the  most  important  books  ever  issued  in  the  interests  of  Spirit- 
ualism. It  was  published  by  H.  Nisbet,  Glasgow,  Scotland,  and  is  for  sale  at 
the  Banner  of  Light  office,  Boston,  Mass. 


300  IMMORTALITY. 

tions  comprise  some  of  my  experiences  on  earth.  They  are 
not  born  of  the  imagination.  They  are  true.  Living  in  a 
far-back  age,  far  removed  from  your  time,  I  can  but  give  you 
my  word.  I  care  not  what  men  say  to  the  contrary,  /  again 
say  it  is  true 


THE  6EKBBAL  TEACHINGS  OP  SPIBITS.  301 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE  GENERAL  TEACHINGS   OF   SPIRITS. 

"  He  said  onto  his  disciples,  Gather  ap  the  fragments  that  remain,  that  nothing  b« 
kmL"  John  vii.  12. 

"  To  me  the  spirit  world  is  tangible.  It  is  peopled  with  persons  and  forms  palpable 
to  the  appreciation.  Its  multitudes  are  veritable,  its  society  natural,  its  language 
audible,  its  companionship  real,  its  loves  distinct,  its  activities  energetic,  its  life  intel- 
ligent, its  glory  discernible ;  its  union  is  not  that  of  sameness,  but  of  variety  brought 
into  moral  harmony  by  the  great  law  of  love,  like  notes,  which,  in  themselves  distinct 
and  different,  make,  when  combined,  sweet  music.  There  will  be  choice  and  prefer- 
ence and  degrees  of  affinity  in  Ileavcn.  Each  intellect  will  keep  its  natural  bliss, 
each  heart  its  elections.  Groups  there  will  be,  and  circles.  Faces  known  and 
unknown  will  pass  us ;  acquaintances  will  thrive  on  intercourse,  and  love  deepen  with 
increasing  wisdom."  Rev.  W.  H.  H.  Mubbat. 

Ddtersity  is  as  much  a  law  of  the  universe  as  unity,  and 
each  and  all,  whether  on  earth  or  in  spirit  life,  aspect  from 
their  own  plane  of  existence.  This  is  a  necessity  of  individ- 
uality. 

No  two  grains  of  sand,  nor  blazing  stars,  are  precisely 
alike.  '*One  star,"  said  the  Apostle  Paul,  "differeth  from 
another  star  in  glory ;  so  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead," 
—  and  so  it  is  also  with  mind,  or  rather  the  immortalized 
intelligences  that  people  the  world  of  spirits.  Being  in  dif- 
ferent states,  influenced  by  different  motives,  members  of 
different  societies  and  occupying  different  spheres,  they  neces- 
sarily perceive  the  scenery  of  the  higher  life,  and  describe 
their  employments  there,  in  accordance  with  the  idiosyncra- 
sies of  character,  as  well  as  with  the  variety  and  capability  of 
their  descriptive  talents. 

Just  imagine  several  diverse  characters  reaching  our  shores 
from  London  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  us  in  the  real- 
ities—  the  shame  and  the  glory  of  London  life.  These  shall 
embody  patricians  and  plebeians,  prince  and  peasant,  judge 


302  niMOBTALiTy.. 

and  criminal,  schoolman  and  tyro,  scientist  and  shopkeeper, 
and  other  types  of  caste  and  conditions.  It  is  plain  enough  that 
these  persons,  seeing  London  with  different  eyes,  and  while 
perhaps  strictly  honest,  would  strangely  differ  in  their  descrip- 
tions. What  would  the  novice  know  of  the  poets'  library' 
And  what  conception  could  the  poor  day-toiler  give  us  of  the 
international  questions  often  discussed  in  Parliament,  or  in 
the  private  councils  of  Court  life  ?  And  yet,  each  of  these 
characters  would  give  substantially  the  same  description  of 
those  features  of  London  life  accessible  to  common  observa- 
tion —  such  as  the  parks  and  gardens,  the  course  of  the 
Thames,  the  dust  and  the  fogs  during  certain  seasons.  And 
so  spirits  agree  in  regard  to  the  general  verities  pertaining  to 
spirit  life  —  agree  that  there  are  landscapes  and  flowers,  trees 
and  running  streams,  houses  and  gardens,  magnificent  moun- 
tains and  dismal  lowlands,  libraries  and  pictures,  sympathies 
and  antipathies,  joys  and  sufferings,  harmony  and  jarring  dis- 
cords. 

Nevertheless,  the  accounts  and  life  histories  we  have  from 
spirits,  relating  to  life  in  the  spirit  world,  differ  quite  as  much 
in  detail  as  would  those  of  diverse  characters,  relative  to  the 
environments  pertaining  to  this  mortal  existence.  No  indi- 
vidual spirit  connected  with  the  lower  spheres  is  intromitted 
into  every  phase  of  spirit  life,  any  more  than  the  fellow-craft 
Mason  is  allowed  to  associate  witli  Royal  Arch  companions, 
or  the  peasant  is  admitted  to  the  higher  gradations  of  social 
life  in  Europe.  Indeed,  inasmuch  as  the  societies  and  associ- 
ational  groups  are  governed  by  the  immutable  laws  of  attrac- 
tion, the  limitations  of  the  individual  environment  are  far 
more  restricted  in  spirit  life  than  on  earth. 

The  mental  and  moral  states,  as  embraced  b}-  virtue  and 
vice,  aspiration  and  ambition,  refinement  and  coarseness, 
generosity  and  selfishness,  rear  as  it  were  adamantine  walls  of 
separation  between  the  various  gradations  and  classes  of 
individuals,  far  more  impenetrable  than  the  lines  of  separation 
that  keep  distinct  the  moral  and  social  conditions  that  obtain 
in  the  earthly  life. 


THE  GEKEBAL  TEACHINGS  OF  SPIRITS.  303 

Averaging  the  general  testimonieB  of  spirits  relative  to  their 
beliefs  and  moral  states,  their  homes  and  employments,  they 
teach  the  existence  of  God  ;  they  affirm  that  when  vast  par- 
liaments of  angels  and  white-robed  saints  meet  in  council, 
tJiey  reverently  bow  for  a  moment  in  silent  adoration. 

They  teach,  the  existence  of  the  man  Christ  Jesus  ;  and 
remembering  his  moral  lessons  taught  on  earth,  and  made 
cognizant  of  the  divine  love  he  manifests  in  the  Celestial 
Spheres,  they  speak  of  him  only  in  terms  of  tenderness  and 
reverence. 

They  teach,  the  naturalness  of  the  descent  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  such  as  overshadowed  the  apostles  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  and  such  as  is  still  poured  out  upon  the  unselfish 
and  prayerful  souls  of  to-day. 

Tliey  teach,  the  reality  of  the  spirit  life,  the  lower  sphere 
being  an  almost  exact  counterpart  of  this  physical  world.  This 
lower  sphere  is  the  region,  the  abiding-place  of  earth-bound 
spirits,  —  spirits  whose  loves  and  attractions  still  center  upon 
material  things ;  spirits  who  retain  their  old  theological 
notions  and  angular  idiosyncrasies ;  spirits  who  promise  much 
and  perform  little,  who  speculate,  who  indulge  in  selfish 
schemes,  who  are  addicted  to  the  most  unworthy  frivolities. 

The}^  teach,  that  escaping  from  the  body,  mortals  do  not 
escape  from  themselves;  do  not  escape  the  results  of  their 
sowings ;  do  not  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  grasp  all  knowl- 
edge, nor  enter  the  elysian  fields  of  unalloyed  bliss  antece- 
dent to  the  necessary  disciplines. 

They  teach,  that  the  life  the  spirits  enter  upon  after  death 
is  a  sphere  of  struggle  and  moral  conquest ;  that  every  moral 
altitude  attained  is  a  victory  for  the  soul,  purchased  by  self- 
denial,  by  aspiration,  by  persistent  effort,  and  holy  endeavor. 

They  teach,  that  spirit  life  is  an  active  life,  a  social  life,  a 
constructive  life,  a  retributive  life,  a  progressive  life,  with 
schools,  and  lyceums,  and  museums,  and  universities. 

The}  teach,  that  as  Judas  went  to  his  own  place,  so 
spirits,  disenthralled  from  physical  matter,  gravitate  by  virtue 
of  fixed  spiritual  laws  to  their  own  appropriate  spheres,  which 


304  IMMORTALITY. 

spheres  and  states  are  determined  by  their  own  ruling  loves 
and  desires.  The  lowest  of  these  are  termed  prisons,  and  to 
these  missionaries  from  the  higher  spheres  descend  with  words 
of  hope,  and  hearts  full  of  help  for  those  who  have  departed 
from  the  ways  of  life  and  the  paths  of  divine  order. 

They  teach,  that  very  ancient  spirits  seldom  descend  into 
the  enveloping  atmosphere  of  this  earth,  and  then  they  de- 
scend as  messengers,  knowing  the  past,  and,  with  vision  un- 
veiled, touching  the  future  of  society  on  earth.  They  come 
to  dethrone  emperors,  to  pull  down  haughty  dynasties,  to 
give  freedom  to  serfs  in  Russia  and  to  slaves  in  America,  to 
impart  a  new  impetus  to  the  hidden  forces  of  the  race,  and 
to  initiate  movements  necessary  for  the  inauguration  of  new 
cycles  in  the  progress  of  man  in  this  rudimentary  world. 

They  teach,  that  as  minds  in  spirit  life  affect  minds  on 
earth,  so  minds  on  earth  affect,  indirectly  at  least,  those  in 
spirit  life  ;  that  as  spirits,  one  class  may  teach  us,  so  we  may 
teach  and  benefit  another  class  in  spirit  life ;  and  so  the  two 
worlds  may  —  nay,  must  progress  together. 

They  teach,  that  the  inhabitants  of  earth  are  open  to  the 
influx  of  those  who  have  cast  aside  their  bodies,  both  good 
and  bad,  and  that  we  are  benefited  or  injured  by  intercourse 
with  them,  according  to  the  motives  that  prompt  us,  and  the 
influences  they  exert  over  those  who  invite  their  presence. 
Many  pass  into  spirit  life  with  downward  tendencies,  morbid 
appetites,  and  moral  obliquities,  which  they  seek  to  gratify 
by  coming  into  sympathetic  relations  with  sensitive  persons. 
Others,  going  with  clannish  instincts  not  outgrown,  return  to 
advance  the  selfish  schemes  of  earthly  relatives,  at  the  expense 
of  credulous  and  mediumistic  persons,  whom  they  can  persuade 
to  become  instruments  for  their  use. 

They  teach,  that  memory  is  a  recording  angel  —  that  the 
moral  cowardice  we  have  been  guilty  of,  the  false  pretenses 
that  we  have  hidden  behind,  the  selfish  motives  that  have 
guided,  the  vile  passions  not  resisted,  the  scheming  motives 
that  have  ruled  our  conduct,  will  all  meet  us  in  judgment 
array  in  the  land  of  soul-revelation,  where  masks  are  of  oo 


THE  GENERAIi  TEACHINGS  OF  SPIRITS.  305 

avail,  and  all  —  all  these  memories  will  there  torture  until 
the  uttermost  farthing  has  been  paid,  and  due  restitution  made. 

They  teach,  on  the  other  hand,  that  every  kind  word 
spoken,  every  generous  deed  done,  every  wise  sympathy  ex- 
pended, every  truth  vindicated,  every  pure  principle  woven 
into  their  life-garment,  as  well  as  every  mortal  whom  we  have 
done  good  unto,  will  be  there  in  vivid  realities  to  gladden  our 
souls,  and  make  more  radiant  our  pathway  up  on  to  the  shin- 
ing table-lands  of  a  blissful  immortality. 

It  has  been  said  by  the  eminent  Charles  Babbage,  that  "  The 
track  of  every  canoe,  of  every  vessel  which  yet  disturbed  the 
surface  of  the  ocean,  whether  impelled  by  manual  force  or 
elemental  power,  remains  for  ever  registered  in  the  future 
movement  of  all  succeeding  particles  which  may  occupy  its 
place.  The  furrow  which  it  left  is  indeed  instantly  filled  up 
by  the  closing  waters ;  but  they  draw  after  them  other  and 
larger  portions  of  the  surrounding  element,  and  these  again 
once  moved,  communicate  motion  to  others  in  endless  succes- 
sion. .  .  .  The  atmosphere  we  breathe  is  the  ever-living  wit- 
ness of  the  sentiments  we  have  uttered ;  the  waters  and  the 
more  solid  materials  of  the  globe  bear  equally  enduring  testi- 
mony of  the  acts  we  have  committed. 

"  Thus  considered,  what  a  strange  chaos  is  the  wide  atmos- 
phere we  breathe !  Every  atom,  impressed  with  good  and 
with  ill,  retains  at  once  the  motions  which  philosophers  and 
sages  have  imparted  to  it,  mixed  and  combined  in  ten  thou- 
sand ways  with  all  that  is  worthless  and  base.  The  air  itself 
is  one  vast  library,  on  whose  pages  are  for  ever  written  all  that 
man  has  ever  said  or  woman  whispered.  There,  in  their 
mutable  but  unerring  characters,  mixed  with  the  earliest  as 
well  as  with  the  latest  sighs  of  immortality,  stand  for  ever 
recorded,  vows  unredeemed,  promises  unfulfilled,  perpetuat- 
ing in  the  united  movements  of  each  particle  the  testimony 
of  man's  changeafcle  will  —  the  testimony  of  eternal  justice." 

They  teach,  that  God's  love  spans  all  worlds,  reaches 
through  all  time,  and  is  redemptive  in  purpose ;  that  Jesus 
Christ  not  only  after  the  crucifixion  "  preached  to  spirits  in 


306  IMMOKTALITY. 

f/iison,"  but  that  he  is  still  preaching  to  spirits  imprisoned  in 
darkness ;  that  the  angels  of  God  are  preaching ;  that  martyrs 
for  truth  are  preaching,  and  that  the  good  of  all  past  ages 
are  preaching;  that,  through  self-abnegation,  purity  of  pur* 
pose,  and  consecration  of  all  to  divine  uses,  they  may  win 
souls,  and  harvest  them  even  into  the  Christ  Heavens. 

They  teach,  that  stances  for  spirit  communion  should  be 
held  in  consecrated  places,  should  be  conducted  with  deco- 
rum, should  be  overshadowed  with  an  orderly  and  religious 
spirit ;  that  they  should  be  opened  with  music,  invocations, 
and  prayers ;  and  that  the  business  affairs  and  childish  frivoli- 
ties of  life  should  be  held  in  abeyance ;  that  the  subjects  of 
converse  may  relate  more  fully  to  soul-growth,  daU}'-  duties, 
moral  obligations,  and  those  sublime  principles  that  take  hold 
upon  the  verities  and  responsibilities  of  eternal  life. 

They  teach,  that  birds  and  animals  abound  in  their  forests, 
sing  in  their  groves,  and  add  to  the  life  and  beauty  of  their 
landscapes ;  but  in  the  celestial  spheres  angels'  affections  flow 
out  to  children  and  congenial  souls  rather  than  to  insects, 
animals,  or  any  subordinate  forms  of  life. 

They  teach,  that  the  child  of  expectation  is  immortal  from 
the  sacred  moment  of  embryonic  conception,  and  that  it  is 
criminal  to  blast  and  destroy  the  bud  while  yet  clinging  to 
the  maternal  tree  of  life. 

They  teach,  that  suicides  suffer  intense  remorse,  deep  soul- 
agonies,  for  taking  that  which  they  cannot  impart ;  and  that 
they  are  necessitated  by  a  law  of  their  being  to  remain  near 
the  earth  —  to  prevent  others  from  like  rash  acts,  to  make 
expiatory  amends,  and  thus  finish  up  as  best  they  may  the 
undone  work  of  earth. 

They  teach,  that  there  is  no  structural  disorganization,  no 
disintegration  of  the  spiritual  body,  in  the  process  of  dying, 
but  that  death  is  the  birth  of  the  spirit  —  the  second  birth ; 
that  it  leaves  the  body  somewhat  as  the  bird  does  the  shell ; 
and  that  often  the  truly  good  and  maturely  ripened  souls  of 
earth  do  not  even  become  unconscious  in  the  exchange  of 
worlds. 


GENERAL  TEACHINGS,  OP  SPIRITS.  307 

They  teach,  that  it  makes  no  difference  Avhether  the  dying 
repose  on  beds  of  cotton  or  feathers,  or  swing  in  wind- 
swayed  hammocks;  but  that  the  excited  sympathies,  the 
wringing  of  hands,  the  loud  meanings,  do  make  a  difference, 
retarding  the  emancipation,  clouding  the  spiritual  vision,  and 
otherwise  unpleasantly  affecting  tho  sublime  processes  of  the 
soul's  deliverance. 

They  teach,  that  the  smiles  which  wreathe  the  face  of  the 
corpse  were  caused  by  their  dying  eyes  gazing  into  the  land 
of  beauty  and  blessedness.  When  ^lirabeau  was  passing 
over,  he  ordered  his  friends  to  scatter  perfumed  roses  over 
him,  and  then  added :  "  Let  me  die  now  to  the  sound  of  deli- 
cious music."  When  Bcchmen  was  leaving  for  the  heavenly 
land,  he  said  to  his  son,  ''  Do  you  hear  that  excellent  music?  " 
"  Nay,  father."  —  "  But  /hear  it,"  said  the  dying  seer,  "  and 
I  go  now  into  Paradise."  When  Mozart,  that  master  of  song, 
was  about  to  leave  for  the  life  elysian,  he  looked  longingly 
toward  his  instruments  of  music,  and  partially  swooning,  ex- 
claimed, "  I  hear  music  —  a  new  song  from  angel  choirs !  " 
These  died  with  smiles  resting  upon  their  calm  countenances. 

They  teach,  that  vice  and  misery  —  that  virtue  and  happi- 
ness, as  cause  and  effect,  are  linked  together  in  bonds  as  firm 
as  the  immutable  laws  of  causation,  and  that  self-sacrifice, 
goodness,  and  purity  must  precede  happiness  in  every  and  in 
all  worlds. 

They  teach  us,  especially  those  in  the  higher  spheres,  the 
necessity  of  self-reliance,  urging  us  to  hear,  to  study,  and. 
judge  for  ourselves,  and  to  rely  for  truth  upon  intuition,  rea- 
son, and  our  best  judgment,  seeking,  of  course,  help  from  the 
good  on  earth  and  those  in  the  heavens. 

They  teach,  that  many  of  the  impressions,  and  most  of  the 
vivid  dreams  of  mortals,  are  visions,  revealing  in  the  stillness 
of  the  night  golden  glimpses  of  immortality. 

They  teach,  that  physical  deformities  of  body  do  not  obtain 
in  the  higher  life ;  that  ugliness  of  features  fades  gradually 
away,  and  that  those  who  die  infirm  and  aged  soon  regain 
their  elasticity  and  peifection  of  manhood. 


308  TMMOBTALITY. 

They  teach,  that  nationalities,  tribes,  form,  face,  and  com 
plexion,  differ  quite  as  much  upon  the  entrance  into  the  spirit 
world  as  with  us ;  but  that  these  gradually  lessen  as  spirits 
progress  toward  the  true  and  the  beautiful. 

They  teach,  that  angels  and  truly  good  spirits  appear  calm, 
joyous,  and  royal  in  deportment,  their  garments  frequently 
dazzling  in  brightness;  while  evil-inclined  spirits  appear 
dark,  sullen,  and  are  clothed  in  stained,  if  not  in  tattered, 
vestures. 

They  teach,  that  there  are  no  boasting  atheists,  no  sardonic 
scoffers  at  religion,  in  the  heavenly  spheres.  Arrogant  irreli- 
gious scoffers  at  the  sanctities  of  life  and  the  moral  obliga- 
tions relating  to  God  and  duty,  people  the  hells  of  pride, 
self-sufficiency,  and  discord. 

They  teach,  that  less  developed  spirits  have  their  petty 
plans,  their  envies,  and  their  jealousies,  as  do  mortals ;  and 
that  with  few  exceptions  they  sympathize  with  and  sustain 
their  mediums,  right  or  wrong. 

They  teach,  those  in  the  higher  heavenly  realms,  that  the 
spiritual  world  is  more  analogous  to  this  world  than  similar. 
It  is  real,  yet  infinitely  more  ethereal  and  subjective.  They 
further  teach  that  it  is  the  testimony  of  God  and  angels, 
through  nature  and  revelation,  that  we  must  live  the  divins" 
life  or  die  the  death  —  that  wisdom's  gate  is  narrow  —  that  the 
fire  must  try  every  man's  works,  and  that  we  must  "  over- 
come "  to  receive  the  new  name,  the  white  stone,  and  the 
crown  immortal. 

They  teach,  that  it  is  much  easier  to  outgrow  and  cast  aside 
errors  and  vices  "while  in  this  world,  than  to  defer  a  work,  so 
important  to  be  done,  until  entrance  into  the  future  state  of 
existence.  "  You  will  live  there  as  you  are  living  now," 
writes  the  distinguished  Rev.  Stainton-Moses ;  "  by  the  acts 
and  habits  of  your  daily  life,  3'ou  are  preparing  for  your- 
self the  place  of  your  future  habitation.  The  filthy  is  the 
filthy  still,  as  the  pure  in  heart  preserves  his  purity.  You  are 
working  out  your  own  salvation,  or  preparing  to  yourself 
misery  and  woe. 


THE  GENERAL  TEACHINGS   OF   SPIRITS.  309 

"  And  what  of  the  friends  of  earth,  with  whom  ray  interests 
are  bo  bound  up  that  to  sever  them  would  be  to  tear  out  the 
heart-strings,  and  destroy  the  half  of  myself?  They  live 
still,  the  same  friends,  with  the  same  interests,  and  the  same 
affections.  If  you  desire  to  join  them,  and  to  associate  your- 
self with  those  who  can  lead  you  on,  forward  and  upward, 
you  must  live  as  in  their  presence,  under  their  piercing  eye : 
you  must  energize  to  lead  the  life  that  has  elevated  and  en- 
nobled them,  —  the  life  of  self-abnegation  and  self-discipline* 
as  of  one  who  subdues  the  flesh  to  the  spirit,  and  subordinates 
the  temporal  to  the  eternal." 

They  teach  that,  in  correspondence  with  body  and  soul,  we 
live  in  two  worlds  now;  that  a  "  cloud  of  witnesses "  sur- 
rounds us ;  that  invisible  guests  walk  by  our  sides,  witness- 
ing our  toils  and  struggles,  and  listening  in  sadness  or  rapture 
to  the  breathing  words  that  drop  from  our  lips. 

They  teach,  that  the  still  small  voice  of  God,  that  the  in- 
spirations of  Christ  angels  and  heavenly  ministering  spirits, 
are  ever  calling  —  calling  the  children  of  earth  to  come  up 
higher ! 

Appealing  now  to  materialists  and  sectarists  alike,  may  I 
not  in  all  sincerity  ask.  Are  not  these  teachings  beautiful  ? 
Are  they  not  divine  ?  And  if  they  were  practically  outlived 
by  all  tribes  and  races,  would  not  our  world  be  soon  trans- 
formed into  an  Eden,  such  as  poets  in  all  ages  have  sung,  and 
seers,  in  moments  of  exaltation,  have  prophesied? 

Spiritualism  does  not  ask  the  Christian,  the  Brahman,  or 
Buddhist  to  disbelieve  his  Bible,  but  to  rightly  interpret  and 
understand  it.  It  does  not  seek  to  undermine  Religion,  noi 
render  obsolete  the  beautiful  lessons  and  moral  teachings  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

"So  far  from  setting  aside  the  essential  ideas  of  true 
Christianity,"  widtes  that  eminent  essayist  and  reviewer,  A. 
E.  Newton,  *'  I  affirm  that  modern  Spiritualism  has  furnished 
illustration  and  convincing  proof  of  them,  such  as  can  be  hacj 
from  no  other  source,  and  such  as  should  elicit  the  interest 
and  joy  of  every  professed  believer  in  rational  Christianity. 


310  IMMOETALITY. 

Not  only  do  the  facts  of  Spiritualism  demonstrate  the  reality 
of  a  future  life,  of  inspiration  and  spiritual  interpositions 
(miracles  so  called),  which  are  basic  facts  of  Christianity, 
but  it  also  gives  us  the  philosophy  and  uses  of  many  of  the 
peculiar  rites  and  practices  of  the  Church:  such,  for  example, 
as  baptism,  the  laying  on  of  hands,  the  eucharistic  supper, 
the  customs  of  singing  and  prayer  in  public  assemblies,  of 
fastings,  of  invocations  of  saints  and  angels,  and  many  others, 
which  liave  been  observed  for  the  most  part  traditionally  and 
bHndly." 

The  cold,  indifferent  negations  of  Agnosticism  find  no  en- 
couragement in  Spiritualism.  Faith  leads  to  knowledge.  As 
the  temple  rises  the  scaffolding  disappears.  Methods  are 
ever  changing.  And  it  is  among  the  hopeful  tendencies  con- 
nected with  Spiritualism,  that,  while  less  iconoclastic,  it  is 
becoming  each  year  more  catholic,  more  reb'gious,  and  more 
reverent.  This  is  clearly  indicated  in  ^'"Higher  Aspects  of 
Spiritualism^^''  a  most  excellent  book  just  from  the  press,  by 
the  Rev.  Stainton-Moses,  of  the  London  University.  Treat- 
ing of  the  God-idea,  relative  to  spirit-teaching,  this  author 
says:  "  God  is  spoken  of  by  exalted  spirits  as  the  Supreme, 
All-wise  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  the  Object  of  the  ceaseless 
adoration  of  all  created  sentient  beings.  No  spirit  who  com- 
municates with  earth,  however  long  his  spLrit-life  may  have 
been,  pretends  to  have  seen  Him,  or  to  have  penetrated  to 
His  presence.  They  know  more  of  the  operations  of  His 
laws  ;  they  are  more  deeply  penetrated  with  a  sense  of  His  per- 
fection, His  wisdom,  and  His  love.  They  insist  invariably  on 
worship  of  the  Supreme,  adoration,  praise,  meditation,  and 
prayer.  They  tell  of  constant  adoration  and  praise  on  their 
part.  They  inculcate  on  us  the  same,  and  are  specially  strong 
in  insisting  on  the  blessing  of  meditation  and  the  privilege  of 
prayer.  They  view  the  latter  not  as  the  sort  of  charm  that 
it  is  to  many  men,  but  rather  as  the  link  that  joins  man  to 
the  ministering  angels,  who  are  the  intermediary  agencies 
between  liim  and  his  God. 

*'  Man,  they  say,  is  surrounded  by  '  ministering  spirits,'  of 


THE  GENERAL   TEACHINGS   OF   SPIRITS.  311 

whose  services  he  may  avail  himself  if  he  will,  or  whom  he 
may  drive  from  him  by  neglect  of  prayer,  by  engrossing  care 
for  the  bodily  and  the  earthly,  by  ignoring  the  higher  spirit- 
ual part  of  his  nature.  Constant  progressive  cultivation  of 
higher  sentiments  in  work  for  God,  for  his  fellow,  and  for 
himself;  a  living  of  the  Christ-like  life  of  adoration  and 
prayer,  and  self-denying  work,  together  with  that  spiritual 
rest  which  springs  from  meditation  and  conscious  aspiration 
to  a  higher  and  elevated  standard,  — this  is  their  ideal."  .  .  . 
After  pronouncing  "  this  view  of  God  in  the  new  faith," 
spiritualism,  as  emphatically  "  that  of  Jesus  Christ,"  he  thus 
continues :  "  Jesus  was,  before  all,  a  practical  teacher,  and  in 
so  far  as  his  teachings  can  be  sifted  out,  every  one  of  them 
forms  a  cardinal  point  in  the  teaching  of  the  new  faith. 
Purity  in  thought,  word,  and  deed,  as  man's  chiefest  duty  to 
himself ;  universal  philanthropy  and  loving-kindness  ;  self- 
sacrifice  and  self-denial ;  humility  ;  sincerity ;  forgiveness  of 
injuries ;  the  worthlessness  of  mere  external  ceremony  ;  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  ;  and  the  universal  brotherhood  of  human- 
ity;—  these  were  the  principal  points  in  Christ's  teaching, 
and  they  have  lost  nothing  of  their  luster  now,  simply  because 
they  are  verities  eternally  and  irreversibly  true." 

In  consonance  with  the  foregoing,  the  distinguished  Charles 
Beecher,  in  his  work  "  Spiritual  Manifestations,"  writes 
as  follows:  "He  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth 
God,  for  God  is  love.  It  is  love's  own  absolute  self  the  soul 
pants  for,  as  the  hart  pants  for  the  water  brooks.  It  is  his 
very  self  inbreathed,  as  it  were,  into  ourself,  however  effected, 
with  open  vision  or  without,  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body, 
which  we  yearn  for  as  better  than  life.  We  see  the  infinite 
beauty  everywhere,  but  it  is  veiled.  We  come  near  the 
intense  effulgence,  but  it  is  hid  from  us.  We  feel  the  attrac- 
tion of  the  central  orb ;  we  are  conscious  of  the  glowing  love 
cf  Christ;  we  know  we  are  moving  on  the  homeward  track, 
and  we  tremble  with  presentiments  of  what  that  beatific 
vision   may  be There  is   a   certain    incandescence  o/ 


312  IMMORTALITY. 

soul  produced  by  intense  love,  which  powerfully  affects  the 
body.  Even  earthly  affection  in  its  purest  forms  illumines 
and  transfigures  the  countenance.  But  the  love  of  loves, 
when  He  reveals  himself,  produces  an  inward  ardor,  per- 
meating the  dull  tabernacle  with  cherubic  radiance  ;  an  ardor 
which,  if  carried  to  its  height,  must  lay  the  frail  form  as  dead 
at  His  feet.  And  is  not  this  the  secret  of  the  glory  of  the 
spiritual  body,  that  it  will  simply  corruscate  from  within, 
inflamed  by  His  contact?  As  the  star,  long  circling  round 
its  remote  orbit,  rushes  blazing  to  its  perihelion,  so  the  exiled 
soul,  long  absent  from  its  God,  rushes  incandescent  to  His 
presence,  to  go  no  more  out  forever." 

Genuine  religious  spiritualism  is  in  perfect  accord  with 
Christianity  as  taught  and  lived  by  Jesus  Christ. 

Accepting  Peter's  definition,  "I  see  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth  a 
man  approved  of  God  among  you  by  miracles,  wonders,  and 
signs  that  God  did  by  him."     (Acts  ii.  22.) 

Truly  could  he  say,  "  I  and  my  Father  are  one," —  one  in 
purpose,  one  in  spirit.  He  worshiped  in  spirit.  He  never 
lost  sight  of  the  spiritual  world.  God  does  not  speak  to  him 
from  without.  He  feels  that  God  is  in  him.  He  needed  no 
sound  of  thunder,  like  Moses ;  no  revealing  tempest,  like  Job  ; 
nor  familiar  oracle,  like  Grecian  sage.  He  consciously  lived 
in  and  with  the  Father. 

Seen  in  the  light  of  his  Divinity,  his  pre-eminent  greatness 
consisted  in  his  fine  harmonial  organization;  in  a  constant 
communion  with  angels ;  in  the  depth  of  his  sweet  spiritual- 
ity ;  in  the  keenness  of  his  moral  perceptions  ;  in  the  expan- 
siveness  and  warmth  of  his  Divine  sympathies ;  in  his  sincerity 
of  heart;  In  his  soul-pervading  spirit  of  obedience  to  the 
mandates  of  right ;  in  his  devoted  consecration  to  the  highest 
interests  of  humanity ;  and  in  his  complete  and  perfect  trust 
in  and  unity  with  God  I 

That  Jesus  was  touched,  and  his  person  made  radiant  with 
the  celestial  glory  of  the  Christ-Heavens,  the  light  of  which 
is  God,  is  evident  from  these  passages :  —  "No  man  hath 
ascended  into  heaven,  but  He  that  came  down  from  heaven, 
even  the  Son  of  Man.  wh'ch  is  in  heaven."      "  This  is  my 


THE  GENERAL  TEACHINGS  OF   SPIRITS.  313 

beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ; "  and,  "  There 
appeared  an  angel  strengthening  him ; "  and,  "  His  face  did 
shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  seemed  white  as  the  light." 
Thus  illumined,  baptized,  and  divinely  consecrated,  he  could 
exclaim,  "  I  have  overcome  the  world  I "  "  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach 
the  Gospel  to  the  poor  ;  He  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives  ...  to  set  at 
liberty  those  that  are  bound,  and  to  preach  the  acceptable 
year  of  the  Lord." 

Cherishing  these  sublime  conceptions  of  Jesus  Christ,  I  can 
fervently  exclaim.  Behold  "  the  Way,  the  Truth,  the  Life  I" 
And,  further,  I  can  sincerely  say,  that  I  believe  in  salvation 
through  Christ  —  through  the  Christ  of  purity,  love,  and 
truth, —  believe  in  salvation,  or  soul-unfoldment  through 
Christ,  just  as  I '  believe  in  opening  buds  and  green  fields 
through  the  summer  showers,  and  in  fruits  and  waving  har- 
vests through  the  golden  sunshine  !  Christ,  then,  is  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness  and  the  Saviour  of  the  World  1 

It  is  my  prayer  —  the  soul-aim  of  my  life,  to  live  and  walk 
in  the  spirit  of  Christ.  And  since  my  visit  to  Palestine,  and 
the  sdance  held  in  Jerusalem  with  my  traveling  companion, 
Dr.  E.  C.  Dunn,  —  at  which  time  the  Evangelists  and  others 
of  the  New  Testament  times  came  with  sweet  and  holy  mes- 
sages, —  my  faith  has  been  strengthened  and  confirmed  in  the 
divinity  of  Christianity. 

A  spirit,  of  great  purity  and  holiness,  referring  to  Jesus 
Christ,  inspired  these  lines  : 

"  His  robe  was  white  as  flakes  of  snow 

When  through  the  air  descending ; 
I  saw  the  clouds  beneath  him  melt. 

And  rainbows  o'er  him  bending  1 
And  then  a  voice  —  no,  not  a  voice ; 

A  deep  and  calm  revealing — 
Came  through  me,  like  a  vesper  straia 

O'er  tranquil  waters  stealing. 
And  ever  since  that  countenance 

Is  on  ray  pathway  shining,  — 
A  sun  from  out  a  higher  sky, 

Whose  hght  knows  no  decliniog." 

19 


•314  IMMORTALITT. 

I  have  few  sweeter  memories  of  the  Orient  than  my  personal 
interviews  with  that  Hindu  Brahmo  —  speaker,  author,  and 
prophet  —  Keeshub  Chunder  Sen.  He  is  a  man  to  be  loved 
—  a  man  who  lives  a  life  of  great  abstemiousness  and  purity. 
\nd  this  Brahmo  seer  and  teacher  declares  in  the  most 
olemn  manner  that  he  has  seen  Jesus  Christ  and  John  the 
Japtist.     Here  are  some  of  his  recent  stirring  words: 

*'  It  is  not  politics,  it  is  not  diplomacy  that  has  laid  firm 
lold  of  the  Indian  heart.  It  is  not  the  glittering  bayonet, 
3or  the  fiery  cannon  that  can  make  our  people  loyal.  No : 
aone  of  these  can  hold  India  in  subjection.  Armies  never 
conquered  the  heart  of  a  nation.  .  .  .  But  your  hearts  have 
been  touched,  conquered,  subjugated  by  a  superior  power. 
That  power  —  need  I  tell  you  ?  —  is  Christ.  It  is  Christ  who 
rules  British  India,  and  not  the  British  government.  .  .  . 
None  but  Jesus,  none  but  Jesus  Christ  ever  deserved  this 
bright,  this  precious  diadem,  India ;  and  Jesus,  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  shall  have  it !  .  .  .  He  is  coming :  in  the  fullness  of  time 
He  will  come  to  you,  O  young  men  of  India  1  He  will  come 
to  you  as  self-surrender,  as  the  life  of  God  in  man,  as  obedient 
and  humble  sonship." 

Spiritualism  is  a  most  sacred  word,  because  rooted  in  God 
and  relating  to  Christ  and  to  immortality.  Spiritualism,  a 
phenomenon,  a  sunny  philosophy,  and  a  divine  religion, 
unlocks  the  treasures  of  precious  memories,  and  lays  at  our 
feet  the  living  truths  of  the  present.  It  leads  the  thirsty  to 
living  fountains,  feeds  the  hungry  with  the  bread  of  heaven, 
and,  plucking  away  the  thorns  of  life,  plants  along  our  paths 
the  flowers  of  undying  affection.  It  comes  to  each  and  all  of 
us  personaU}^  pleading  with  us  to  pay  the  price  of  self-denial, 
spiritualize  our  natures,  purify  our  affections,  overcoming  the 
world,  thus  living  in  precious  memories  on  earth,  immortal 
for  the  good  that  we  have  done. 

"  Up  and  away  like  the  dew  of  the  morning, 

That  soars  from  the  earth  to  its  home  in  the  son ; 
So  let  me  steal  away  gently  and  lovingly, 
Only  remembered  by  what  I  have  done. 


THE  GENEKAL  TEACHINGS   OP  SPIRITS.  315 

My  name  and  my  place  and  my  tomb  all  forgotten, 

The  brief  race  of  time  well  and  patiently  ran ; 
So  let  me  pass  away,  peacefully,  silently. 

Only  remembered  by  what  I  have  done. 

Gladly  away  from  this  toil  would  I  hasten, 

Up  to  the  crown  that  for  me  has  been  won, 
Unthought  of  by  man  in  rewards  or  in  praise, 

Only  remembered  by  what  I  have  done. 

Op  and  away,  like  the  odors  of  sunset, 

That  sweeten  the  twilight  as  darkness  comes  oa; 
80  be  my  life  —  a  thing  felt  but  not  noticed  — 

Only  remembered  by  what  I  have  done. 

Tes,  like  the  fragrance  that  wanders  in  freshness. 
When  the  flowers  that  it  came  from  are  closed  up  and  goam, 

So  would  I  be  to  this  world's  weary  dwellers, 
Only  remembered  by  wliat  I  have  done. 

Needs  there  the  praise  of  the  love- written  record. 

The  name  and  the  epitaph  graved  on  the  stone  ? 
The  things  we  have  lived  for  —  let  them  be  our  stoiy. 

Only  rememl)crcd  by  what  we  have  done. 

I  need  not  be  missed,  if  my  life  has  been  bearing. 

As  its  summer  and  autumn  moved  silently  on. 
The  bloom  and  the  fruit  and  the  seed  in  its  season, 

Only  remembered  by  what  I  have  done. 

I  need  not  be  missed  if  another  succeed  me, 
To  reap  down  those  fields  which  in  spring  I  have  sown. 

He  who  ploughed  and  who  sowed  is  not  missed  by  the  reaper  1 
He  is  only  remembered  by  what  he  has  done. 

Not  myself,  but  the  truth  that  in  life  I  have  spoken. 

Not  myself,  but  the  seed  that  in  life  I  have  sown. 
Shall  pass  on  to  ages,  —  all  about  me  forgotten. 

Save  the  truth  I  have  spoken,  the  good  I  have  done. 

So  let  my  living  be,  so  be  my  dying, 

So  let  my  name  lie  unblazoned,  unknown, 
Unpraised  and  unmissed,  I  shall  still  be  remembered ; 

Yes  —  but  remembered  by  what  I  have  done." 

Life  is  a  pilgrimage  ;  let  us  kindly  help  each  other  along 
the  tiresome  journey;  for  soon,  perhaps,  shall  we  put  our  san- 
dals off,  and  lay  our  weary  burdens  down  by  the  cypress-trees 
that  shade  Death's  peaceful  river.  And  when  that  tremulous 
hour  comes,  as  it  must  to  each  aud  all,  precious  will  be  the 


3lf,  DIMOBTALITT. 

memories  of  kind  words  spoken,  and  the  good  that  we  have 
done. 

Let  us  widen,  then,  all  the  fraternal  relations  of  life  ;  culti- 
vate the  holier  sanctities  of  the  soul,  and  point  the  sad  and 
tearful  to  the  infinite  possibilities  that  lie  invitingly  before 
them. 

Let  us  remember  the  Christian  graces,  faith,  hope,  and 
charity,  —  forgiving  others  as  we  hope  to  be  forgiven,  and 
blessing  others  as  we  hope  to  be  blest  of  God  and  the  angels 
that  do  the  Divine  will.  Let  us  not  forget  that  religion  — 
that  sweet  trust  in  God  —  that  sincere  soul-felt  prayer  — 
that  the  baptism  of  the  Christ-spirit,  and  the  blessed  minis- 
tries of  angels,  will  prove  helps  to  us  in  every  time  of  trial. 

Let  us  abide  in  the  vine,  ever  keeping  in  mind  the  new 
commandment  of  Jesus,  "  Love  ye  one  another."  "  By  this 
shall  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples  if  ye  have  love  one 
for  another."  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall 
see  God."  If  I  know  my  own  heart  it  beats  in  accord  with 
the  divine  effort  to  better  humanity,  and  throbs  in  tenderest 
love  toward  all  races  and  the  people  of  all  lands. 

This  is  the  time  of  unrest  —  the  moral  drift  period  of  the 
world.  The  cycle  of  myth  and  dogma  is  closing.  The 
Second  Coming  is  overshadowing  us.  Jesus  with  his  holy 
angels  is  in  t^e  clouds  of  Heaven,  calling  as  never  before, 
"  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest.  Come,  make  ready  to  inherit  the  kingdom 
prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world." 


SPIRIT   MESSAGE   FROM   THE   APOSTLE   JOHN         317 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

SPIRIT  MESSAGE  FROM  THE  APOSTLE  JOHN 

He  who,  from  zone  to  zone, 

Guides  through  the  boundless  sky  thy  certain  flight, 
In  the  long  way  that  I  must  tread  alone 

Will  lead  my  steps  aright. — Bryant. 

I  go  to  prove  my  soul; 

I  see  my  way  as  birds  their  trackless  way 

1  shall  arrive!     What  time,  what  circuit  first, 

I  ask  not,  but  unless  God  sends  his  hail 

Or  blinding  fireballs,  sleet  or  stifling  snow, 

In  good  time,  his  good  time,  1  shall  arrive. 

He  guides  me  and  the  bird.     In  his  good  time. — BROWNING. 

"Never  the  spirit  was  born,  the  spirit  will  cease  to  be  never; 
Never  was  time  it  was  not;  End  and  Beginning  are  dreams! 
Birthless  and  deathless  and  changeless  remaineth  the  spirit  forever; 
Death  hath  not  touched  it  at  all,  dead  though  the  house  of  it  seems!" 

For  a  full  half  century  and  more  I  have  given  much 
attention  to  that  psychic  phenomenon  denominated 
the  trance — trance  conscious  and  trance  unconscious, 
both  of  which  are  little  more  than  names  for  hypnotism ; 
a  thoroughly  hypnotic  person  in  the  state  of  hypnosis 
is  but  an  echo  or  an  amanuensis  for  the  controlling 
intelligence,  fleshed  or  unfleshed. 

Sitting  one  evening  in  my  library  with  E.  C.  Dunn, 
after  attending  a  religious  m.eeting,  I  asked  him  to  be 
passive  and  tell  me  what  he  clairvoyantly  saw.  Clos- 
ing his  eyes  and  seemingly  surveying  the  room  he  said: 
"There  are  several  spirits  present,  some  of  which  I  never 
saw  before.  One  of  these  is  robed  in  a  strange  purple 
attire  with  queer  figures  on  his  robe.  Other  spirits 
seem  to  pay  him  reverence.  There  is  a  pecuhar  light 
in  the  room  and  I  notice  dift'erent  shades  of  light  around 
the  bookshelves  and  the  books  themselves." 

Wishing  to  more  thoroughly  test  this  new  clairvoy- 
ant  phase,    I   bandaged   his   eyes   which   were  already 


318  IMMORTAUT:-^ 

closed,  and  asked  him  to  point  out  some  of  the  aural 
lights  encircling  various  volumes.  After  a  little  hesi- 
tation and  quite  to  my  surprise,  the  psychic  shading 
which  he  described  encircling  a  book  corresponded  in  a 
very  marked  degree  with  what  I  had  heard  or  person- 
ally knew  of  the  mental  and  moral  characteristics  of 
the  authors.  This  to  me  at  that  time  was  a  new  chap- 
ter in  my  psychic  studies. 

While  this  young  man,  only  seventeen  years  of  age 
was  a  superior  clairvoyant  seer,  he  greatly  disliked  the 
gift,  often  declaring  that  he  saw  in  the  environing  realms 
of  earth  more  disagreeable  than  beautiful  things.  Some- 
times he  was  horrified  with  beholding  dark  demoniac 
spirits.  This  was  largely  accounted  for  by  the  plane  of 
consciousness  which  he  personally  occupied.  As  an 
object  cannot  move  where  it  is  not,  neither  can  a  seer 
see  very  far  from  the  moral  standpoint  beyond  his  own 
status,   unless  aided   by  invisible  intelligences. 

At  another  time,  practicing  his  clairvoyance  in  my 
library  after  a  service  in  the  Unitarian  church,  he  said: 
"I  feel  the  presence  of  my  guiding  control,  Aaron  Knight." 

"If  he  desires  to  entrance  you,  kindly  allow  him  to 
do  so."  Becoming  passive  and  yet  physically  spas- 
modic, he  was  thrown  into  an  unsconcious  state,  seem- 
ingly death-like.  In  going  into  these  trances  his  pulse 
ceased  beating  and  his  facial  appearance  seemed  changed 
as  did  also  his  gestures  and  voice.  There  was  about 
him  very  little  of  his  own  personality.  Conversing  with 
this  spirit  intelligence,  Aaron  Knight,  he  remarked: 
"There  are  many  spiritual  presences  here  who  wish  to 
entrance  my  medium  and  deliver  to  you  messages,  but 
the  majority  of  them  are  unacquainted  with  the  trance 
methods  of  control  and  so  might  nervously  injure  my 
medium." 

Waiting  a  little  time  in  the  silence,  he  remarked: 
"There  is  one  spirit  very  near  you,  tall,  calm,  and  very 
dignified  who  especially  desires  to  entrance  this  subject 
of  mine."     Here  he  said,  "Wait  a  few  moments,"  add- 


SPIRIT   MESSAGE    FROM   THE   APOSTLE   JOHN         319 

ing,  "it  is  all  right."  Soon  the  medium's  face,  gestures 
and  voice  all  changed,  and  straightening  up  in  a  quiet 
way,  the  countenance  brightening,  he  put  his  hand  upon 
my  head  in  a  most  fatherly  and  peaceful  manner.  Feel- 
ing a  strong,  magnetic  influence  from  the  hand  I  inquired, 
"Who  is  this?" 

The  medium,  reaching  out  his  hand,  still  entranced, 
took  up  a  pencil  and  wrote  in  a  very  firm  bold  hand  the 
two  initials  "H.  B."  and  dropped  the  pencil,  then  there 
was  silence  again. 

At  this  crisis  it  flashed  into  my  mind,  H.  B. — Hosea 
Ballou. 

"Yes,"  he  wrote,  "Hosea  Ballou,  of  Boston,  where 
he  preached  the  gospel  of  universal  salvation.  And 
now  in  the  higher  life  of  immortality  I  feel  still  more 
sure  of  this  grand  consummation." 

He  then  called  for  the  Bible.  Passing  it  to  this  young 
man  entranced,  the  spirit  turned  to  the  sixth  chapter 
of  the  Prophet  Daniel,  and  pushing  the  Bible  toward  me 
I  read:  "My  God  hath  sent  an  angel  and  hath  shut  the 
lion's  mouth  that  they  have  not  hurt  me,"  then  he  con- 
tinued, "God  in  olden  times  sent  angels  to  guard  and 
minister  unto  those  who  had  words  of  prophecy,  words 
of  inspiration  and  of  righteousness  to  educate  and  mor- 
ally elevate  the  children  of  men,"  the  trinity  that  must 
redeem  and  uplift  all  worlds  must  be  the  Immanence  of 
God,  the  ministry  of  angels  and  the  brotherhood  of  all 
races  unclothed  or  clothed  upon. 

He  further  added:  "God,  whose  spirit  is  everywhere, 
will  send  an  angel  unto  you — listen  to  his  instructions." 
With  these  words  he  left  the  sensitive  and  Aaron  Knight 
took  control  again,  saying,  "Friend  Peebles,  I  have 
often  informed  you  that  those  whom  you  denominate 
ancient  spirits  frequently  visit  you  personally  or  inspira- 
tionally  because  of  your  love  of  archeology  and  ancient 
lore.  One  of  these  was  known  in  Christendom  as  the 
Apostle  John.     He  is  also  one  of  my  heavenly  teachers 


320  IMMORTALITY 

and  he  will  give  you  a  message,  largely  as  I  understand, 
of  a  personal  nature." 

Quickly,  joyfully,  I  exclaimed,  "Of  this  I  shall  be 
more  than  delighted  to  have  that  inspired  seer  who 
said,  'God  is  love,'  entrance  this  medium." 

"No,  friend  Peebles,"  replied  Mr.  Knight,  "he  will 
not  do  this;  he  has  dwelt  too  long  in  the  beatific  realms 
of  celestial  harmony  for  physical  phenomenal  control." 

"How  then  can  I  get  the  message?"  "He  will  give 
it  to  me  and  I  will  pass  it  to  the  Indian  Powhattan  and 
he,  controlling  this  medium,  will  dehver  it  to  you  as 
best  he  can.  I  could  not  hold  this  subject  under  will- 
power control  and  at  the  same  time  give  you  the  mes- 
sage. Though  we  are  spirits  loosened  from  the  clay,  we 
have  our  Umits.  Kindly  see  that  the  doors  be  kept 
closed;  we  want   all  possible  conditions  of  quietness." 

What  follows  was  the  substance  of  the  message  pen- 
cilled down  by  me  at  the  time  as  it  psychically  filtered 
through  two  personalities. 

"Brother  in  the  Flesh: 

"Still  sympathizing  with  the  inhabitants  of  your 
planet  I  come  in  thought  and  love  to  you  from  my  home 
in  one  of  the  beautiful  isles  of  the  blest — ^come  in  con- 
formity with  that  great  law  of  attraction  which  closely 
cements  in  one  all  sympathizing  souls  without  regard 
to  time  or  nationality.  God  willed  your  incarnation 
into  the  flesh,  and  before  you  breathed  the  vital  air  of 
earth,  I  impressed  into  your  fetal  life  a  particled  por- 
tion of  my  spiritual  substance.  This  was  a  central 
point  upon  and  through  which  I  could  act  as  a  vibra- 
tory willforce  in  a  healthful  training  for  a  work  that 
you'  was  destined  to  do  by  the  masters  of  the  temple 
that  crowns  the  mountain  of  inspiration.  All  these 
years  from  your  childhood  have  I  ministered  unto  you, 
not  always  personally,  but  through  others  have  I  min- 
istered to  you  impressionally  in  love,  and  these  love- 
cords  can  never  be  severed,  or  changed  only  to  bind  more 


SPIRIT   MESSAGE    FROM   THE   APOSTLE  JOHN         321 

closely  the  ties  of  spiritual  affection  while  you  are  labor- 
ing along  the  mapped-out  line  of  your  mission. 

"Brother  of  earth,  not  in  thought  and  personal  aims 
relating  to  you  alone,  do  I  descend  in  purpose  from  my 
celestial  home  where  all  is  peace  and  love;  but  to  help, 
to  instruct,  to  encourage,  and  spiritually  beautify  and 
bless;  because  from  the  highest  altitudes  of  angehc  life 
to  the  lowest  depths  all  are  linked  in  the  endless  chain 
of  being. 

"In  thus  descending  as  a  hopeful  helper  by  methods 
unknown  to  you  and  unsought  by  you  I  ascend  still 
higher  the  spiritual  stairway  that  leads  upward  to  abso- 
lute perfection — an  ideal  that  no  intelligence  in  the  physi- 
cal body  or  out  of  it  can  ever  attain,  because  no  number 
of  finites  can  ever  equal  or  reach  the  Infinite. 

"Not  a  strand  in  this  chain  connecting  myself  with 
thyself  shall  ever  be  severed.  I  in  you  and  you  in  me 
and  all  in  God.  And  in  the  ratio  that  you  aspire — in 
the  moral  ratio  that  you  mingle  with  me  in  thought,  in 
purpose,  in  prayer,  in  wisdom  and  love,  you  come  into 
Diviner  fellowship  with  the  redeemed  who  have  come 
up  through  tribulations  and  painful  persecutions. 

"Brother  of  earth,  the  paths  of  reformers  and  great 
illuminators  are  outlined  in  realms  unseen,  unknown  to 
you.  Intelligence,  prophesy  and  love  recognize  no 
chance;  this  is  a  universe  of  purpose.  'Many  are  called 
but  few  are  chosen,'  said  the  Christ  through  that  elder 
brother,  Jesus,  who,  homeless,  misunderstood  and  mar- 
tyred, still  lives  in  the  heavens. 

"Appreciate  your  calling,  let  not  your  rising  spirit 
sink — follow  your  highest  impressions — ^have  hours  of 
silence,  of  meditation  and  prayer — dare  to  say  and  do 
the  right.  Feel  your  sonship  to  God  and  abide  in  that 
branch  of  faith  which  characterized  the  prophets  of 
Israel. 

"You  sometimes  think  that  your  pathway  is  im justly 
streAvn  with  thorns,  compelling  you  to  drink  of  the  bitter 
waters  of  the  desert.     AJid  yet  in  the  innermost  you  are 


322  IMMORTALITY 

blest  beyond  all  blessing.  Much  of  mortal  life  comes 
from  contrast.  The  tenderest  flowers  are  often  bruised 
by  windy  blasts;  and  why  should  not  you  suffer  from 
thorny  stings  that  pierce  your  hands  and  sometimes 
cause  a  tear  to  start.  There  is  no  moral  altitude  at- 
tained except  through  struggle.  Gethsemane  agonies 
preceded  the  Victor's  words,  'It  is  finished.'  Then  angels 
came  with  their  holy  ministries. 

"Oh,  mortal  brother,  murmur  not!  Lift  up  your 
head!  Lift  up  your  thoughts  to  that  finer  sphere  of 
life  where  flowers  never  wither  nor  friendship  never 
fades,  where  compensations  never  fail  nor  the  most 
sacred  affections  never  fade  into  forgetfulness. 

"Oh,  that  I  could  through  these  finite  intermediaries, 
portray  to  your  earth-imprisoned  spirit  the  beauties  and 
the  unspeakable  splendors  of  the  scenery  which  make 
the  radiant,  the  angel  world  of  perpetual  loveliness,  but 
human  words  at  best  only  symbolize  ideas.  In  these 
higher  spheres  there  are  flowers  of  every  possible  hue, 
with  sweetest  perfumes,  music  the  most  enchanting,  di- 
versified landscapes  carpeted  with  ever-living  green,  and 
pearly  rills  which  flow  gurgling  in  rhythm  with  the 
psalms  of  seraphic  choirs. 

"Bear  manfully  all  your  trials,  forget  the  enemies  that 
would  impede  your  pilgrimage,  meet  defeats  with  a 
strong  heart,  quail  before  no  foe,  entertain  in  your  doors 
no  flatterer,  compromise  no  great  principle,  pity  the 
erring  and  so  pity  as  to  seek  and  save  them.  And  when 
weary  and  worn  in  your  labors  for  human  good  think  of 
the  new  Jerusalem  and  those  glorified  souls  there  who 
await  your  coming.  There  the  long-severed  meet — there 
the  twain  in  spirit,  harmony-mated,  become  essentially 
one  in  love  and  purpose — one  to  shine  like  a  star  in 
night  time  and  the  sim  at  noontime  illumined  by  that 
great  mighty  central  sun  of  the  Universe. 

"Mortal,  in  my  realm  of  life,  on  a  charming  isle  in 
ethereal  space  there  are  mountains  capped  with  golden 
temples — vast  universities  of  wisdom  whose  doors  are 


SPIRIT   MESSAGE    FROM   THE   APOSTLE   JOHN  323 

never  shut — mounds  of  velvety  mosses,  forests  and  groves 
where  the  birds  of  paradise  sing  and  where  the  martyrs 
and  great  masters  of  earth  walk  in  imperial  grandeur  and 
whose  brows  are  entwined  with  chaplets  of  myrtle  and 
rosebuds,  the  brightness  of  which  never  ceases  to  reveal 
the  true,  consecrated  lifework — and  these — all  these 
shall  be  thine,  my  brother,  when  you  are  worthy — when 
you  are  worthy. 

"Then  with  me  and  others  and  great  multitudes,  you 
shall  not  merely  encircle  the  planet  on  which  you  dwell, 
but,  becoming  a  pilgrim  immortal,  you  shall  travel 
through  the  starry  immensities  of  solar  and  stellar  worlds. 
I  now  depart  in  presence  from  this  dark  plane  of  time  to 
my  sunlit  isle,  leaving  with  you  love  and  blessing." — ^John. 

The  above  excellent  and  timely  message,  purported 
to  come  to  me  through  visible  and  invisible  intermediar- 
ies, from  the  Apostle  John  of  the  fourth  gospel,  which 
gospel  he  did  not  write  personally,  but  inspired  the  writ- 
ing of  it  through  a  sensitive  after  his  ascension  to  the 
spirit  world,  so  he  informs  me. 

Of  the  above  facts  I  have  only  the  testimony  from  un- 
seen intelligences  and  clairvoyants,  but  no  amount  of 
such  testimony  amounts  to  positive  knowledge.  Iden- 
tity is  certainly  one  of  the  most  difficult  problems  to 
solve  in  the  field  of  psychic  research.  The  late  distin- 
guished Stainton  Moses,  of  London,  published  a  very 
useful  volume  upon  Spirit   Identity. 

It  is  very  certain  to  my  mind  that  the  above  communi- 
cation originated  in  and  was  breathed  from  the  brain  of 
some  Oriental;  and  probably  one  of  Jewish  origin.  The 
trend  of  thought  and  such  unused  phrases:  "The  New 
Jerusalem"  and  "the  bitter  waters  of  the  desert,"  are 
among  the  evidences.  The  ideas  as  they  reached  me 
from  the  higher  life  have  been  scrupulously  maintained, 
but  the  Indian  spirit  could  not  clearly  articulate  some 
of  the  stirring  thought- words,  and  so  I  corrected  them  in 
consonance  with  plain  English. 

In  the  higher  zones  of  immortaHty,  tribes,  races,  na- 


324  IMMORTAUTY 

tionalities  nor  color  have  any  noticeable  status.  Intelli- 
gence, wisdom  and  spirituality  are  the  current  passports 
to  the  seraphic  homes  and  habitations  of  the  heavens. 

All  mortals  attract  and  so  have  sympathizing  spirit 
counsellors.  No  mortal  hves  alone.  No  mortal's  life 
influences  perish  with  his  body.  These  are  written  on 
his  aura  and  are  retained,  appearing  on  the  scrolls  of 
judgment,  to  be  unrolled  when  entering  the  next  stage 
of  existence.  All  days  are  judgment  days;  all  time  is  a 
time  for  judgment,  repentance  and  progress. 

The  lives  of  all  great  masters  and  reformers  are  out- 
lined in  the  invisible  heavens;  they  are  termed  prophets 
and  ideahsts;  and  through  them  and  other  means,  God 
will  ultimately  make  divinely  real  the  highest  forms  of 
the  present  ideals. 

The  clear -seeing  clairvoyant  in  connection  with  in- 
tuition knows  that  the  plans  and  outwrought  deeds  of 
men  are  photographed  through  etheric  vibrations  on  the 
sensitive  ethers  which  permeates  the  cosmic  realms  of 
the  higher  spheres. 

Reasoning  and  lifting  the  mirror  of  memory  and 
reverting  to  the  long-buried  ages  of  antiquity,  there  is 
clearly  revealed  the  eternal  purpose  of  good  triumphing 
over  evil — of  sorrows  blossoming  into  ecstatic  joys — 
thorns  transformed  into  sweetest  roses — hopes  into 
fruition — and  tears  crystalHzing  into  pearls  of  match- 
less brilliancy.  God  Immanent  and  Omnipotent  reigns; 
and  all  things  dark  today  will  become  bright  in  the 
tomorrow  of  eternity. 

"Oh,  Love,  where  art  thou  leading  me?"  the  Pilgrim  cries, 
"O'er  many  a  thorn  and  many  a  stone,"  Love  sighs, 
"But  thou  Shalt  never  walk  alone." 

"Wilt  be  like  this  the  whole  long  way?"  the  Pilgrim  cries. 
"There's  many  a  scratch  and  many  a  fall,"  Love  sighs, 
"But  I  will  help  thee  through  it  all." 

"But  whither  leads  this  fparful  path?"  the  Pilgrim  cries. 
"This  path  all  resting  souls  have  trod,"  Love  sighs, 
"For  truth  alone  can  lead  to  God." 


WORKS  OF  DR.  PEEBLES 

On  Science,  Philosophy,  Spiritualism 
Occultism  and  Germane  Subjects 


IMMORTALITY  AND  OUR  FUTURE  HOMES.  What  a  hundred 
spirits,  low  and  exalted,  say  regarding  their  homes  and  daily 
occupations.  The  conditions  of  infants,  idiots,  suicides  and 
wicked.  How  spirits  influence  and  entrance  mortals.  Cloth, 
S1.15;  paper,  75c. 

DEMONISM  OF  THE  AGES  AND  SPIRIT  OBSESSIONS.  How  unde- 
veloped spirits  may  cause  sickness,  disease,  paralysis,  epilepsy, 
insanity,  premature  death,  suicide,  etc.  How  to  avoid  and 
east  out,  now  to  attract  higher  inteUigences.  Valuable.  400 
pages,  $1.25. 

THE  CHRIST  QUESTION  SETTLED.  All  about  Jesus.  Was  he 
myth,  man,  medium,  martyr  or  the  very  God?  A  symposium 
of  opinions.  Valuable  evidences  from  researches  in  the  Orient, 
excavations  and  explorations.  Interviews  with  noted  histor- 
ians  and   Jewish   rabbis.     A   life's   work.     400  pages,   $1.25. 

WHAT  IS  SPIRITUALISM  AND  WHO  ABE  THESE  SPIRITUALISTS? 

Revised  and  enlarged  edition,  giving  a  definition  of  Spiritual- 
ism with  extracts  from  the  writings,  speeches  and  testimonies 
of  the  world's  brainiest  thinkers,  authors,  philosophers,  scien- 
tists, poets,  etc.,  concerning  communion  with  the  dead — val- 
uable reference  book— anj  encyclopedia  of  i  nformation.  MO 
pages.  Paper,  60c.  cloth,     $1.00. 

BUDDHISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY  FACE  TO  FACE.  Active  and  stir- 
ring debate  between  a  Buddhist  priest  and  a  Christian  clergy- 
man, held  before  7,000  people  in  a  grove  at  Pantura,  Ceylon. 
Bristling  with  wit  and  criticisms.  The  two  religions  explained, 
34c. 

DEATH  DEFEATED  OR  THE  PSYCHIC  SECRET  OF  HOW  TO  KEEP 
YOUNG.  How  to  live  for  a  century  and  grow  old  gracefully. 
What  to  eat — what  to  drink — sleep,  baths,  hygiene,  clothing, 
sex,  marriage  and  right  living.  $1.00. 

PATHWAY  OF  THE  HUMAN  SPIRIT  TRACED.  Nature  and  origin 
of  the  spirit— did  it  pre-exist?  Memory  of  past  existence. 
Is  reincarnation  a  fact?  Its  unfoldment  and  destiny.  Immor- 
tality and  progress  beyond  the  grave.     Cloth,  85c. 

VACCINATION  A  CURSE  AND  A  MENACE  TO  PERSONAL  LIBERTY. 

Treats  of  inoculation  and  calf-lymph  vaccination  from  Jenner's 
time  to  the  present.  How  cow-pox  pus  is  obtained.  The 
cause  of  hundreds  of  deaths,  eczema,  pimpled  faces,  cancers, 
tumors,  ulcers,  paralysis,  leprosy,  etc.     Cloth,  Sl.OO. 


SPIRITUALISM  VERSUS  MATERIALISM.  Seven  essays  of  master- 
ful and  scholarly  ability.  Arguments  are  thoroughly  rational 
and  pliilosophical,  sustained  by  scientific  evidence.  Excellent. 
Cloth,  40c. 

BIOGRAPHY  OF  DR.  PEEBLES,  BY  PROF.  E.  WHIPPLE.  Magni- 
ficent volume  of  600  pages  giving  a  Ufe  history,  travels,  pubhc 
life,  home  Ufe  and  notable  incidents.  Abounding  in  ripened 
thought.     $1.50. 

IMMORTALITY— ITS  NATURALNESS  AND  POSSIBILITIES.  Spirit- 
ualism in  the  Bible.  Spiritualism  and  the  immortal  Hfe  con- 
tained in  ancient  books  and  taught  by  ancient  philosophers. 
Excellent  pamphlet.     18c. 

REINCARNATION.  A  discussion  upon  the  successive  embodiments 
of  the  human  spirit.  Reincarnation  considered  and  doomed. 
An  old  Hindu-borrowed  theory.  The  divided  opinions  of 
Besant,  Olcott,  Blavatsky,  and  Tingley.     Valuable.     35c. 

SPIRITUALISM  OR  ADVENTISM— WHICH?  Spiritualism  Com- 
manded of  God.  Biblical  arguments  against  Christianity  and 
the  Seventh- Day  Adventists.    Bright,  stirring  and  pointed.  15c. 

ORTHODOX  HELL— CHURCH  CREEDS  AND  INFANT  DAMNA- 
TION. Scathing  and  critical  treatise  upon  sectarian  doc- 
trines, creeds  and  preaching.  Beliefs  and  teachings  culled 
from  orthodox  sources  with  comments.     19c. 

SPIRITUALISM  PRO  AND  CON.  A  discussion  sharp,  pointed  and 
brisk,  with  a  scathing  reply  by  Dr.  Peebles  against  the  false 
accusations  that  Spiritualism  is  of  the  devil  or  aUied  to  witch- 
craft.    10c. 

SPIRITUALISM  IN  ALL  LANDS  AND  TIMES.  The  SpirituaUsm  of 
Zeno,  Socrates,  Homer,  Hesiod,  Plato,  Plutarch,  Cicero,  Jesus 
and  the  advanced  minds  of  all  past  times.     Good.     10c. 

PLEA  FOR  JUSTICE  TO  MEDIUMS.  Special  pamphlet  devoted  to 
the  explanation  of  a  certain  phase  of  mediumship.  Proving 
the  passage  of  matter  througn  matter.     5c. 

SPIRIT-MATES,     SEX-LIFE,     MARRIAGE,     DIVORCE,     AND     RE- 
UNIONS IN  SPIRIT  LIFE.     Origin  of  spirit-germs,  their  pro- 
fress  and  pilgrimage  through  earth  life  to  thp  spirit  world, 
larriage  and  its  relations.     Are  divorces  justified?     Marriages 
i  in  the  spirit  world.     When  and  how  spirit-mates  unite,  how 

soul-mates  are  brought  together,  influence  of  spirits  on  life. 
Communications  from  spirits  to  counterparts  of  earth,  A  col- 
lection of  valuable  experiences.     Sl.!35. 

FIVE  JOURNEYS  AROUND  THE  WORLD.  In  search  of  truth, 
studying  the  rise  and  progress  of  nations,  races  and  their 
reUgions.  Finely  illustrated — over  500  pages  describing  the 
manners,  customs,  laws,  governments,  art,  science  and  litera- 
ture of  all  lands.  The  pyramids  and  ruins  of  Mexico — the 
Pacific  Islands — New  Zealand — Austraha — China — Magic  and 
wonders  of   India — Ceylon — Persia — ^Arabia — Ancient  Egypt 


and  her  pjTamids — Assyria — Palestine  and  the  Holy  Land — 
Turkey — Greece — Italy — 1^'rance  and  Gt.  Britain.  Interest- 
ing, fascinating  and  highly  instructive  throughout.  Bound 
exquisitely  in  blue  silk  and  gold. — $1.75. 

SEERS  OF  THE  AGES.  The  most  comprehensive  and  Pexhaustive 
treatise  upon  Ancient,  Mediaeval  and  Modern  Spiritualism  ex- 
tant. A  veritable  encyclopedia  of  the  Seers,  Sages,  prophets 
and  inspired  men  and  women  of  all  ages,  with  records  of  their 
teachings  and  testimony  to  intercourse  with  the  spirit  world — 
Treats  of  God — Holy  Spirit  —  Baptism  —  Inspiration  —  Evil 
Spirits — Hell — Heaven — Prayer  etc.  A  most  scholarly  and  val- 
uable literary  contribution  portrayed  in  accomplished  style. 
18th  edition,  cloth  binding,  400  pages,  81. 25 

HOW  TO  CONVERSE  WITH  THE  SPIRITS  OF  THE  DEAD,  and  How 

to  Know  the  Good  from  the  Evil  Spirits.  A  timely  and  needed 
treatise  on  spiritual  gifts  and  how  to  develop  them.  Do  they 
destroy  individuality  ?  How  to  investigate.  Clairvoyance, 
Psychometry,  Healings,  Diagnosing  Diseases,  etc.,  etc.  Hand- 
some brochure  in  purple  and  gold.     25c. 

FRAUDS  UNDER  THE  NAME  OF  SPIRITUALISM.  A  most  scathing 
and  fearless  expose  of  many  disgraceful  and  contemptible 
frauds  perpetrated  under  the  name  of  Spiritualism.  Contains 
incriminatmg  articles  that  were  suppressed  by  leading*  Spirit- 
ualist journals.  Antiquity  Unveiled,  very  much  unveiled  with 
other  fraud  books,  pamphlets,  seance  frauds,  etc.      Price  15c. 

NINETY     YEARS    YOUNG    AND    HE.4^LTHY— HOW    AND    WHY. 

Active  and  brilliant  in  every  faculty  at  ninety  years.  Dr. 
Peebles  tells  the  secret  of  long  life,  the  foods,  clothing,  drinks, 
and  other  habits  necessary  to  keep  healthy  and  prolong  life. 
Sex  Regeneration — Pro-creation — Thought-Force — Will-Power 
and  Self -Mastery. 

HOURS  WITH  FAMOUS  AMERICANS.  A  short  biography  of  the 
life  of  Dr.  Peebles  with  interesting  anecdotes  and  incidents 
connected  with  his  association  with  prominent  personages.  A 
most  interesting  brochure.     15  cent«. 

DID  JESUS  CHRIST  LIVE?  A  most  able  pamphlet  setting  forth  the 
answers  to  this  question  by  Dr.  H.  V.  Sweringen  and  replied 
to  by  Dr.  Daniel  W.  Hull  and  Dr.  Peebles.  Two  articles 
suppressed  and  refused  publication  by  The  Progressive  Thinker. 

OAHSPE— A  REVIEW  AND  CRITICISM.  A  pamphlet  embodying 
the  reply  of  Dr.  Peebles  to  Mr.  J.  Nelson  Jones  of  Ararat, 
Australia.     Refused  by  the  Progressive  Thinker.     10  cents. 

SPIRITUALISM  OR  METHODISM— WHICH?  A  sharp  and  critical 
review  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  E.  Locke's  attack  upon 
Spiritualism,  proving  the  shallowness  of  his  arguments  and 
the  superiority  of  SpirituaUsm  to  orthodoxy.     15  cents. 

RETAIL  AND  MAIL  ORDERS  TO 

PEEBLES  PUBLISHING  CO. 

519  FAYETTE  ST.,      LOS  ANGELES,  CAL. 
WHOLESALE 

BATTLE  CREEK,  MICH. 

U.  S.  A. 


^^r         14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

This  book  is  due  oirmel^t  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


m\^i  ^^ 


SU.V.  .    :• 


MAR2t  196t 


CD  LD 


"Zc/>t^ 


UN    5  1961 


t:nit'/ LJ\C\V^ 


1t^ER-LlBRARt 


5  U 


ptC^1^^-^^ 


£R^ 
^ UOAlt 


4£^A. 


\m 


^^B$      13. 0 


AUG  30   1971 


OCT  8    REC'D  "1  PM 


£  t  8^ 


LD  21-50m-8,*57 
(.C8481sl0)476 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


coaMbiflTie 


1.  ' '     "      I 


llliil 


JUIIIIIlllilllllHil 


